Hamas leader says bodies of captive Bibas family will be handed over on Thursday

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00:00Bring in Noga Tarnopolsky, our correspondent, joining us live from Jerusalem.

00:04Noga, good evening to you. Another bittersweet moment then for the families of the hostages.

00:11Good evening. Yes, today has been one of these kind of shattering days for, I would say,

00:18most of Israeli society, not just the families. One family member, Danny Elgarat, who's become

00:25a very well-known name in Israel, whose brother Isaac was taken hostage, said that he put it

00:32together from television reports that his brother is apparently among the dead, when his brother's

00:39name did not appear among the six Hamas said it would be releasing on Saturday. And yet he has

00:45yet to be formally informed that his brother is not alive or that he should expect to receive his

00:52coffin on Thursday. So it's been a messy day with very difficult, conflicting emotions.

01:00And as you mentioned, a tragedy for the Bibas family. Hamas did specifically mention that this

01:06mother, Shiri Bibas, and her two small children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who've become very well

01:12known for their red hair, are going to be coming back on Thursday among the dead.

01:18This is incredibly tragic. And of course, Yarden Bibas freed earlier in February.

01:23One can't really imagine what he's going through right now.

01:30That's right. Yarden Bibas was freed a little more than a week ago. His family did put out a

01:36statement today describing their torment. And they too said that despite the Hamas announcement,

01:42until they were going to wait to be fully informed by the Israeli authorities

01:48before accepting this as reality. There's another case of a man who was Yossi Sharabi,

01:56who was freed a week before Yarden Bibas, who also lost his entire family's wife and two daughters,

02:02and he discovered it upon release. So you have a feeling among the Israeli protesters,

02:08among the hostages, families, among the families of soldiers killed in this war,

02:12this incredible weariness seems to be taking over of hearing more and more about the dead.

02:19And it's going to keep coming because after this Thursday, phase one includes yet another four

02:26dead hostages who are apparently going to be released a week later.

02:29And then we have the question, the big question about phase two.

02:34Noga, can you tell us what Hamas is getting in exchange?

02:38Yes. As you mentioned, Hamas is getting in exchange things that it was in fact promised

02:46and Israel should have complied with earlier during this agreement. Caravans, these mobile

02:51homes, which are really badly needed in Gaza, and they're better than tents. The only thing Gazans

02:57whose homes were destroyed have to live in so far are tents that are very meager protection

03:02against the winter. And so Hamas, as a kind of governing authority, being able to say,

03:08we secured you these caravans, these mobile homes, that's a big success for them. Israel

03:13had been denying them access despite the terms of the agreement. And the other thing is big

03:18machinery. For now, these bulldozers and such are mainly expected to be used for basically getting

03:25rid of rubble, for the beginning of the cleanup operation in Gaza. And it's interesting that

03:30having said no, no, no, Israel is now allowing this heavy machinery in. And it's an acknowledgement

03:37that Gaza is going to have to be rid of its rubble and rebuilt.

03:42Noga Tandapovsky in Jerusalem. As always, thank you very much for joining us.

03:48Noga, of course, watching all developments for us on the situation in the Middle East,

03:51including residents.

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