Netanyahu cancels attendance at ceremony to receive bodies of 4 Israeli hostages from Gaza

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled his appearance at a ceremony to receive the bodies of four Israeli hostages from Gaza, Israeli media.

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas handed over the bodies of Shiri Bibas, and her two children; Ariel and Kfir, and Oded Lifshitz to Red Cross representatives in Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip Thursday morning.

According to Israeli Channel 12, Netanyahu was scheduled to attend a ceremony to receive the four bodies, but the Israeli premier canceled his participation at the last minute.

Hamas said that the four hostages were killed in Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip.

The handover of the four bodies was part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap deal, which took effect on Jan. 19, halting Israel’s genocidal war that has killed nearly 48,300 people, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.