Israel is preparing for one of the most difficult days since the beginning of the current hostage deal, with the transfer of four bodies of hostages on Thursday.

According to Hamas, the deceased hostages who will be released on Thursday are the three members of the Bibas family: Shiri, Ariel and Kfir, and Oded Lifschitz.

The security establishment is preparing for a dignified reception of the bodies upon receiving them in the Gaza Strip.

According to a Hamas statement, the deceased hostages will be handed over to the Red Cross at eight in the morning. After the transfer of the bodies to the Red Cross, they will be handed over to the IDF in the Gaza Strip.

Upon receiving the bodies, the military Rabbanut will hold a dignified military ceremony in the Gaza Strip, during which military officials will place the deceased in coffins wrapped in Israeli flags, with the participation of IDF soldiers and a military Rav who will recite Kaddish and pirkei Tehillim.

From there, IDF vehicles will transfer the coffins across the border. Israel Police will then take over, transporting the bodies to the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, where they will first be identified and then examined to determine the cause of death, a process that Dr. Chen Kugel, the head of Abu Kabir, describes  as “no less important than the identification itself.”

Dr. Kugel warned that the process of determining the cause of death will take time, even up to 48 hours. “We will do everything in our power, but it is not always possible, especially when dealing with remains that have been held for an extended period,” he said.

The IDF spokesperson stated that “the IDF has not succeeded in bringing them back alive to their families but we will bring them to Kever Yisrael.”

An official announcement regarding the identities of the bodies will be made to their families by a bereavement notification team, composed of military personnel, police, welfare officials, the Ministry of Religious Services, and local authorities—only after the official and final identification at Abu Kabir.

The IDF estimates that Hamas will claim the hostages were killed in IDF attacks in the Gaza Strip but emphasizes that those claims are unverified. The IDF is expected to announce the causes of death after a thorough investigation.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)