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TÁNAISTE AND MINISTER for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris has joined in on the international condemnation of a handover ceremony by Hamas of the bodies of young children.
The bodies of four Israeli hostages, which included Shiri Bibas and her two young boys Kfir and Ariel, were handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross as part of the fragile ceasefire deal.
This was the first handover of dead hostages under the terms of the deal that so far had only seen living captives exchanged for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Hamas staged a handover ceremony at a former cemetery in the southern Gazan city of Khan Yunis, which also included the body of a fourth hostage, Oded Lifshitz.
The United Nations also slammed what it called the “abhorrent and cruel” staging of the event, which it said “flies in the face of international law”, calling for all future handovers to be done in private.
In a post on X this afternoon, Harris said the display was “utterly despicable”.
“The parading of caskets of young children by Hamas today was cruel, heartbreaking and utterly despicable. It is a stark reminder of the brutality of October 7,” Harris said, referring to the militant group’s October 2023 attack on Israel.
We must see an enduring peace in the Middle East, where neither terrorism nor bombing of innocent civilians is tolerated.
Speaking at a G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa this afternoon, Harris said the images of the coffins served as “a reminder as to why we must see the ceasefire hold”.
“There could not have been anybody who saw the pictures today of the caskets of young children, who had been taken hostage by Hamas, being released, nobody could have seen those images and not have been impacted.
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“We must see peace brought to the Middle East and we must make sure that everything that can humanly be done to get all hostages released, any remains returned to families, but also crucially to make sure that never ever can we go back to a scenario where either terrorism from Hamas is tolerated or indeed horrific attacks on the civilians in Gaza.”
The Red Cross has also now called for the return of dead hostages to be done in private.
“These operations should be done privately out of the utmost respect for the deceased and for those left grieving. We have been unequivocal: every release — whether of the living or the deceased — must be conducted with dignity and privacy,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.
Stage
Ahead of the handover, Hamas and members of other armed Palestinian groups displayed four black coffins on a stage erected on the sandy patch of ground.
A banner behind them depicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a bloodstained vampire.
Each casket bore a small photo of the deceased. White mock-up missiles nearby carried the message: “They were killed by USA bombs,” a reference to Israel’s top military supplier.
Hamas said an Israeli air strike killed the Bibas family early in the war, but Israel has never confirmed the claim.
“We are all enraged at the monsters of Hamas,” Netanyahu said in a video message, vowing again to destroy the group.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accused the group of exposing hostage families to “limitless terror” with the ceremony.
Egypt to present 'vision' for reconstruction of Gaza without displacing Palestinians
Netanyahu says ceasefire will end if Hamas does not return hostages by Saturday
Hamas said in a statement that it and its armed wing “did everything in their power to protect the prisoners (hostages) and preserve their lives, but the barbaric and continuous bombing by the occupation prevented them from being able to save all”.
During the ceremony, a militant with his face wrapped in a red and white keffiyeh scarf sat on the stage to complete documents with a Red Cross official.
The coffins were then loaded into Red Cross vehicles.
Under strain
Israel and Hamas announced a deal earlier this week for the return of eight hostages’ remains in two groups this week and next, as well as the release of six living Israeli captives on Saturday.
Palestinian captives are also set to be freed in Saturday’s swap, but were not part of Thursday’s handover.
The ceasefire in Gaza has held despite accusations of violations by both sides.
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