Angry mob cheers

Hamas does not even pay respect to dead children

Hamas is once again using anti-Semitic rhetoric to paint the picture of "Jewish parasites".(Bild: AFP)

After the handover of the killed hostages by Hamas on Thursday, it is clear that not even the bodies of the brutally abducted children are spared the martial propaganda. While masked fighters guarded the black coffins, an angry crowd celebrated the display of the dead.

A macabre spectacle in the Gaza Strip: Hamas puts four black coffins on display, draping them next to bullet casings - in the middle of a stage. Armed, masked fighters watch over the perfidious backdrop. Above everything is a huge poster depicting Benjamin Netanyahu as a bloodthirsty vampire. The inscription underneath: "The war criminal Netanyahu and his Nazi army killed them with missiles from Zionist war planes."

Perpetrator-victim reversal by Hamas
But the truth is different: The terrorist organization is staging a brazen perpetrator-victim reversal. For it was Hamas itself that brutally abducted the toddlers Kfir (then 9 months) and Ariel Bibas (4) along with their parents Shiri and Yarden from the kibbutz Nir Oz - over 16 months ago. Yarden was released alive on February 1, but the fate of his wife and children remained unknown until the end.

Hamas claims that they were killed in Israeli air strikes. A version that Israel has been unable to confirm. Forensic investigations are now to clarify whether the bodies are actually those of the Bibas family - and, above all, what caused their deaths.

And once again the angry crowd is rioting
But instead of respect for the victims, it is once again just perfidious propaganda: even when live hostages were released, they were misused for staging. Now even the dead children are being targeted: the coffins are emblazoned with signs reading "Date of arrest: October 7, 2023." - Hamas deliberately conceals the fact that this was a brutal kidnapping.

Hamas is once again using anti-Semitic rhetoric to paint a picture of "Jewish parasites".(Bild: AFP)

While loud music blares, the angry crowd cheers. The photo of the alleged hostage is emblazoned on each coffin. In addition to the Bibas children and their mother, the body of 84-year-old Oded Lifshitz was also handed over.

Red Cross calls for more human dignity
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) did not want to accept this propaganda. Before the coffins were loaded into their vehicles, staff covered the Hamas lettering with white cloths. The ICRC had already demanded more dignity in the handover of the hostages beforehand.

During the handover to the Israeli army, the coffins were wrapped in the Israeli flag. Dozens of Israelis waited on the edge of the Gaza Strip - in the pouring rain. Another sad day in this tragedy.