Israeli family mourns ‘man of peace’ as body returned from Gaza

From her house in east London, British-Israeli Sharone Lifschitz never gave up hope that her 84-year-old father Oded would return from the horror of Hamas captivity, after more than 500 days.

He was a man of peace, a campaigner for, and a friend of, Palestinians.

He was dragged from his home by Palestinian gunmen on 7 October and killed in captivity after being taken to Gaza alive.

The return of his body on Thursday was devastating news for Ms Lifschitz and her family, particularly her mother Yocheved who was also a hostage but returned alive and now will not be able to reunite with her husband of 63 years.

After identifying Oded’s body, the head of Israel’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine said he had been killed in captivity more than a year ago. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said he “was murdered in captivity by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization.”

The BBC were with Sharone, a filmmaker and academic, at her home when the ceasefire was announced last month.

She shed tears of joy and hope as at last she saw an opportunity where she would discover what had happened to her father. After more than a year of him being held hostage, she didn’t know if he was alive or dead.

Sharone Lifschitz admitted then that at his age the hopes for his survival were slim, but she also believed “miracles can happen”.

Ms Lifschitz has been an eloquent and dignified voice for the release of her father and the other hostages, and shed light on the trauma the hostage families have faced since their ordeal began.

“One way or another, we will know. We will know if he’s still with us, if we can look after him. We will know who we are grieving for… My father didn’t deserve this.

But she recognised there were “more graves to come.”

And now, one will be for her father.

Oded Lifshitz was a journalist and veteran campaigner for peace who drove sick Palestinians to hospitals in Israel for treatment. In his campaign for Palestinian rights he met Yasser Arafat, then head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

He helped to found Kibbutz Nir Oz, where he lived and was taken hostage from. It was a place where he was well-known for the cacti that he grew, the piano he played and the grandchildren he adored.

In a tribute, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “deeply saddened” by Oded’s death, and sent his “heartfelt condolences” to his family.

“When I met Sharone in Downing Street, she showed remarkable strength in the face of the most difficult circumstances,” Sir Keir said.

“The news of her father’s death is a tragedy. It is my hope that the peace he worked to see in the region through his charity work and activism will be achieved.”

About 1,200 people – mostly civilians – were killed in the 7 October attacks and 251 others, including Oded and Yocheved, taken back to Gaza as hostages. Israel launched a massive military campaign against Hamas in response, which has killed at least 48,297 Palestinians – mainly civilians – according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

As well as Oded, three other bodies were released by Hamas on Thursday – who Hamas said were Shiri Bibas, 33, and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir.

But on Thursday night, Israel’s military accused Hamas of handing over the body of an unidentified person instead of that of Ms Bibas.

“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 Israel Defense Forces said.

Oded’s wife Yocheved, who was freed as a hostage by Hamas in 2023, met then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar while held in the tunnels under Gaza – and told him he should be ashamed of himself.

The British lawyers supporting the family said “Yocheved must be the only person to have met Sinwar, Netanyahu and the Pope, and given them all a piece of her mind. That is the kind of extraordinary person she is.”

On Wednesday, as she received a peace award for her campaigning for the hostages, she said: “Oded was a great fighter for peace. He had very good relations with Palestinians and the thing that hurts the most is they betrayed him.”

His family said they could now mourn for a husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, but after “503 agonising days of uncertainty”, they had “hoped and prayed for a different outcome”.