Investigators confirm identity of slain hostage Oded Lifshitz

After 503 days in captivity, the remains of Oded Lifshitz have been positively identified, hours after they were returned to Israel from Gaza.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli forensics examiners at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute have positively identified the remains of one of the four bodies returned by Hamas on Thursday, confirming that the body of Oded Lifshitz was among those transferred to Israel.

Lifshitz, a former journalist, was returned to Israel via the International Red Cross on Thursday morning, along with the remains of Shiri Bibas and her sons, Ariel and Kfir – the two youngest hostages taken during the October 7th invasion.

In a statement issued via the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Lifshitz’s family expressed their “deep sorrow” after Oded’s identity was verified.

“We have received with deep sorrow the official and bitter news of the identification of our beloved Oded’s body. 503 agonizing days of uncertainty have come to an end. We so hoped and prayed that our ending would be different.

“Now, we can mourn the husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who has been missing from our lives since October 7th. Our family’s healing will begin now and will not be complete until the last hostage is returned,” the statement read.

Lifshitz, who was 83 in October 2023, was abducted, along with his wife, Yocheved, from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, before their home was torched by Hamas terrorists.

The couple has been described as peace activists who volunteered to drive Gazans from the border into Israel for medical treatment.

Yocheved was freed in October 2023, several weeks after being taken hostage.