Middle East: Explosions hit empty buses in Tel Aviv suburb

The Israel Defense Forces said the identification process was completed on the remains of four hostages returned by Hamas earlier in the day. However, the IDF said one of the bodies did not belong to Shiri Bibas, as Hamas had claimed. 

"IDF representatives informed the Bibas family that their loved ones, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, have been identified," the IDF posted on X.

Ariel Bibas was just four years when he died. Kfir Bibas was ten months old.  

"Ariel and Kfir Bibas were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023," the IDF said, referring to Hamas.

"During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage," the IDF said. "This is an anonymous, unidentified body."

"This is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organization, which is obligated under the agreement to return four deceased hostages," the statement said. "We demand that Hamas return Shiri home with all our hostages."

Israel earlier in the day identified the remains of Oded Lifshitz, which were handed over by Hamas. Israel said Lifshitz was "murdered in captivity" by Hamas "over a year ago."

The father of Ariel and Kifir Babas, Yarden, was released alive by Hamas in Gaza earlier in the month. He was also taken hostage in the October 7, 2023 terror attacks on Israel. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that he ordered the Israel Defense Forces "to carry out an intensive operation against centers of terrorism" in the West Bankafter the bus blasts in central Israel.

"The Prime Minister also ordered the Israel Police and the ISA to increase preventative activity against additional attacks in Israeli cities," the statement added. The ISA refers to the Israel Security Agency, which is commonly known as Shin Bet.  

Israel is on the search for suspects after the explosions. Hamas is active in the West Bank, along with other Palestinian militant groups such as Lions' Den. 

The Israeli government said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been being briefed about the bus explosions in the Tel Aviv area.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the military to step up its offensives across the occupied West Bank in response to the attacks.

"In light of the serious attempted attacks in the Gush Dan (central) area by Palestinian terrorist organisations against the civilian population in Israel, I have instructed the IDF (military) to intensify operations to thwart terrorism in the Tulkarem refugee camp and in all the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria," Katz said in a statement, using the biblical term for the West Bank.

Israel's transport minister ordered the Public Transit Authority to stop and inspect all buses, trains and light-rail trains, Israeli media reported.

Israeli police said three buses exploded in a southern suburb of Tel Aviv. Authorities have referred to the incident as a "suspected terrorist attack." 

Officials said no one was injured, as the buses were parked and empty at the time of the explosions. 

"Preliminary report — Suspected terror attack. Multiple reports have been received of explosions involving several buses at different locations in Bat Yam," the police said in a statement. 

According to the statement, police forces had been deployed to search for suspects.

"Police bomb disposal units are scanning for additional suspicious objects. We urge the public to avoid the areas and remain alert for any suspicious items," the statement added.

Israeli media reported two other explosive devices had been disabled.

A Hamas spokesperson accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "procrastinating" on negotiations for the second phase of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza.

"The second phase negotiations have not practically begun, and we are ready to engage in them as stipulated in the agreement," Hamas spokesperson Abdul Latif Al-Qanou said in a statement. "Netanyahu is procrastinating regarding the second phase".

After more than 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas after the militant group's October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, a truce took effect on January 19.

Since then, 19 Israeli hostages have been released in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners. On Thursday, the remains of four hostages were returned to Israel. This weekend, six more living captives are set to be released.

On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said talks would begin this week on the ceasefire's second phase, aiming to lay out a more permanent end to the war.

Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP on Wednesday that Hamas was ready to free all remaining hostages held in Gaza in a single swap during phase two.

Hamas and its allies killed about 1,200 people in their October 2023 attacks and took about 250 more captive. Prior to Thursday's handover, there were 70 hostages in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed more than 48,000 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has invited the leaders of Gulf Arab countries, Egypt, and Jordan for a meeting in Riyadh on Friday, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

Arab states pledged to work on a post-war plan for the Gaza Strip's reconstruction to counter US President Donald Trump's proposal, which includes the forcible displacement of Palestinians in Gaza. 

Trump has called for Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from Gaza, a suggestion they both rejected. He has also called for redeveloping the enclave as an international beach resort.

Saudi Arabia said Friday's meeting would be unofficial and held within "the framework of the close brotherly relations that bring together the leaders," SPA reported.

"As for joint Arab action and the decisions issued regarding it, it will be on the agenda of the upcoming emergency Arab summit that will be held in the sisterly Arab Republic of Egypt," SPA added.

The Saudi state news agency was referring to plans for an emergency Arab summit on March 4 to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A United Nations human rights agency has denounced what it called the "abhorrent and cruel" manner that Hamas staged the handing over of the bodies of four hostages to Israel on Thursday.

"The parading of bodies in the manner seen this morning is abhorrent and cruel, and flies in the face of international law," said the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. "We urge that all returns are conducted in privacy, and with respect and care."

Among the bodies expected to have been returned were those of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons ― Kfir and Ariel ― who had become symbols of Israel's ordeal during the October 7 Hamas attack in 2023.

"Under international law, any handover of the remains of deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families," the UN agency added in a statement.

An Israeli group campaigning for the release of hostages has said it received confirmation the body of veteran peace activist Oded Lifshitz was handed over by Hamas on Thursday.  

"We received with deep sorrow the official and bitter news confirming the identification of our beloved Oded’s body. 503 agonising days of uncertainty have come to an end," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.

Four coffins carrying the remains of the dead hostages were escorted by official vehicles into Tel Aviv earlier in the day.

The Israeli military (IDF) said the bodies would "undergo an identification procedure" at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv. No official comment has been given on the identities by the IDF yet.

The morning began with the handover of the caskets containing the remains of four Israeli hostages, abducted on October 7, 2023.

Crowds of Palestinians gathered at the handover site on the outskirts of Khan Younis in southern Gaza as music played from loudspeakers.

Following the handover of the coffins, conducted by the Red Cross, the remains were then transported into Israel and then onwards for forensic testing in Tel Aviv.

There has been a sombre tone as Israelis gathered at a plaza in Tel Aviv dubbed Hostage Square, a site of regular protests for the release of the hostages.

 

A large convoy of white vans carrying the remains of the dead hostages has been escorted by official vehicles along the route through Israel into Tel Aviv.

A live broadcast captured vehicles moving along the roads, with countless Israelis standing in silence, holding flags and lining the route as the convoy passed.

There is a somber mood among the crowds who have gathered in Tel Aviv and among those lining the route.

Israel's military said the bodies will "undergo an identification procedure" at the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv, where the convoy has just arrived.

The IDF posted pictures of Israeli soldiers saluting the coffins, covered in Israeli flags, carrying the remains of the four hostages. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that the caskets carrying the remains of four dead hostages have entered Israeli territory.

"A short while ago, IDF and ISA [Israeli Security Agency] forces brought the coffins of the four deceased hostages over the border into Israel," the IDF said in a post on X.

The IDF said the dead hostages were now being taken to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine to undergo an identification procedure.  

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his sadness and extended his sympathy to those impacted by the deaths of the four Israeli hostages handed over by Hamas earlier on Thursday.

"It has become a terrible certainty: Shiri Silbermann-Bibas and her sons Ariel and Kfir are dead," Scholz said in a post on X.

"Hamas has brought suffering and death to countless families. I feel for everyone who has to deal with this terrible certainty," Scholz said.

Ariel was 4 years old at the time of the attack and his brother, Kfir, was 9 months old, making him the youngest hostage taken by Hamas.

Shiri Bibas, the mother of chldren, was a dual German-Israeli national.

It was a somber morning across Israel. A few Israelis had gathered in Hostage Square in the center of Tel Aviv, but unlike previous releases of hostages in recent weeks, there was no live broadcast of the handover of the deceased hostages out of respect for them and their families.

"I am angry because all the hostages should have been released months ago — alive," said Estee, who declined to give her last name.

"I'm crying because all Israelis are my family, even though none of my family members were abducted," she added.
 
In West Jerusalem, a passerby said it "was one of the saddest days" since October 7, 2023.

Relatives of those apparently killed said their journey won't end until the lengthy process of identifying the remains is completed and all hostages have returned home. 

The Bibas family had asked the public "to refrain from eulogizing our loved ones until there is confirmation following final identification."

The remains of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, are said to be among the bodies handed over by Hamas. 

DW looks at what the Bibas family means to Israel.

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog expressed a deep sense of sorrow following the return of the bodies of four Israeli hostages, among them the youngest to have been abducted.

"Agony. Pain. There are no words. Our hearts — the hearts of an entire nation — lie in tatters," Herzog said in a post on X.

"On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely. May their memory be a blessing," Herzog said.