February 20, 2025 - October 7 War, Day 503  

• Today is an extremely difficult and emotional day in Israel, and across the Jewish world, marked by deep sadness and grief.
• Four bodies of hostages have been returned to Israel by Hamas. The identity of one of the four, that of Oded Lifshitz, has been formally confirmed using forensic evidence. Oded was 84 years old and had been a life-long peace activist, frequently volunteering to bring sick Gazans to hospitals in Israel.
• The other three bodies are believed to be those of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir. The Bibas boys, Ariel,  4 years old, and Kfir, just 9 months old, when they were kidnapped, had  become a global symbol of the hostages. With their distinctive red hair, their faces became known across the world, particularly through heart-wrenching footage of their terrified faces as they were taken captive. The family’s father, Yarden, was released by Hamas two weeks ago. At the time of this writing, the extended family is awaiting forensic confirmation that the bodies returned are indeed those of the mother and her two young sons. Shiri’s parents, Margit Shnaider Silberman, 63, and her husband Yosef José Luis (Yossi) Silberman, 67, (also life-long peace activists) were killed at their Nir Oz home on October 7. They are now  survived only by their daughter, Dana.
• Despite Israeli and internationals pleas for a respectful hand-over, earlier today, Hamas held a ceremony steeped in propaganda where the four bodies were transferred to the Red Cross. Each of the four coffins had a photo of the person whose body was believed to be inside, alongside a sign for the two adults with wording proclaiming their “date of arrest.”
• On the stage, a large poster portrayed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire above pictures of the four hostages; the poster denounced Israel and blamed it for the deaths of the four.
• Hundreds of Gazans flocked to the ceremony, many bringing their own children, who watched as music blared.
• The Red Cross handed the bodies over to the IDF, which draped the coffins in Israeli flags, and held a short ceremony, including the reciting of Psalm 83 by the IDF Chief Rabbi, which opens with the words: