Funeral procession for Bibas family under way in Israel

A public funeral procession for Israeli hostages Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, who were killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip, got under way in Israel on Wednesday morning.

Tens of thousands of people lined the route, Israeli news site ynet reported.

According to eyewitnesses, many people brought orange balloons in memory of the two ginger-haired boys, Kfir and Ariel, who at the time of their abduction were only 9 months and 4 years old, making them the youngest hostages kidnapped during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks.

The Times of Israel reported the coffins were to be brought from the Tel Aviv area to the south of the country, where the family is set to be buried near their home in the Nir Oz kibbutz in a private ceremony.

The eulogies are to be broadcast live.

Shiri Bibas' body was handed over by Palestinian extremist group Hamas on Friday, one day after the remains of her children. Another coffin that Hamas initially handed over to the Red Cross alongside the children contained the body of another, unknown woman.

The mix-up - whether deliberate or accidental - caused great outrage in Israel.

Following a forensic examination of the bodies, the army announced that the two children had been brutally murdered by the kidnappers in November 2023.

According to Hamas, however, they were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

The display of the bodies by Hamas was sharply criticized internationally, after they were laid out on a stage amid cheering onlookers and masked fighters while loud music played.