Israel PM says 'enraged at the monsters of Hamas' over bodies handover

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was "enraged by the monsters of Hamas" Thursday and vowed to "eliminate" the Palestinian militants after they paraded the coffins of four Israeli hostages in Gaza.

"We are all enraged at the monsters of Hamas," he said in a video statement, adding: "We will return all our hostages, destroy the murderers, eliminate Hamas and together - with God's help -- we will secure our future."

Netanyahu's comments came hours after Hamas held a ceremony in Gaza for the transfer of the bodies of four hostages believed to be members of the Bibas family -- Shiri Bibas and her young sons, Kfir and Ariel -- and veteran peace activist Oded Lifshitz.

The ceremony, which saw Hamas militants carrying the coffins onto a stage, took place in a former cemetery in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis.

The bodies were then transferred to the International Committee of the Red Cross, who delivered them to Israeli forces. The remains were then taken to Israel's main forensic centre for identification.

In his statement, Netanyahu said the "blood of our loved ones cries out to us from the ground," and, quoting from the Torah, he said this "obliges us to come to settle the score with these vile murderers - and we will settle the score with them."

"Our hearts are broken, but our spirits are not," he said.

Defence Minister Israel Katz expressed a similar sentiment on X, posting: "The heart of the entire nation mourns today. Hamas kidnapped, Hamas murdered, Hamas will be destroyed. We will take revenge on our enemies and secure our future."

The bodies were handed over under the first phase of a ceasefire which took effect on January 19. So far militants have freed 19 living Israeli hostages in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners.

Another six living hostages are to be released on Saturday while four more dead bodies are to be handed over next week.

Hamas and its allies took 251 people hostage during their attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Prior to Thursday's handover, there were 70 hostages in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.

The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,319 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.