Hundreds attend funeral of killed Israeli hostage Oded Lifshitz

Hundreds of people flocked to the southern Israeli kibbutz of Nir Oz on Tuesday to pay their last respects to 84-year-old peace activist Oded Lifshitz, who was killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

"Dad, you're here now, now you’re home," the Times of Israel quoted his eldest son, Arnon Lifshitz, as saying during the funeral.

Lifshitz, then aged 83, was one of the 250 people abducted during the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

His remains were returned to Israel last week under a fragile ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian extremist group.

A forensic examination suggests that Lifshitz was killed by his captors shortly after having been taken to the sealed-off coastal territory.

His body was returned alongside those of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, two young boys who were abducted alongside their parents.

The body of the boy's mother, Shiri Bibas, was said to have been returned alongside them, but Israel later announced that the remains were not hers, sparking outrage.

Shiri Bibas was then returned the next day, and she and her sons are set to be buried on Wednesday.

The children's father, Yarden Bibas, 34, was released alive by Hamas on February 1. All four members of the family were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the unprecedented October terrorist attacks two years ago.

Some 1,200 people were killed in the attacks, which led to another war in Gaza, in which tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed so far.