Bibas family funeral takes place in Israel
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You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 14 hours GMT on Wednesday the 26th of February. An emotional day for Israel as the two young Bibas boys and their mother are laid to rest. A member of the family said they could have been saved, but Israeli officials preferred revenge. The US and Ukraine agree a deal on minerals, but what of security guarantees? And why oil giant BP is slashing renewable investments and moving back to fossil fuels. Also in the podcast, 10 years on from ISIS, we report on life in Kurdish parts of Syria.
You see so many young girls and women dancing and chanting. They have so many reasons to dance because if ISIS was ruling this region, I am sure they wouldn't be able to leave their home.
It is a day of deep sorrow in Israel as hundreds of mourners paid their final respects to Shiri Bibas and her two young boys, Gafir and Ariel. They were kidnapped during the 7th of October attacks, becoming a symbol of the horror of that day. Despite desperate hopes they would come home alive, their bodies were returned to Israel last week. Today there was a long procession to their final resting place with thousands lining the streets, many carrying flags, saying farewell to the family. Shiri's husband, Yarden Bibas, who spent more than a year in captivity in Gaza himself, made an emotional speech at the funeral. Shiri's sister-in-law, Ofri, criticised Israeli officials over their deaths, saying they could have saved her loved ones, but preferred revenge.
Forgiveness means accepting responsibility and committing to act differently, to learn from mistakes. There is no meaning to forgiveness before the failures are investigated and all officials take responsibility. A disaster as a nation and as a family should not have happened and must never happen again.
The funeral came as Israel and Hamas resolved their latest dispute over the ceasefire deal for Gaza. On Saturday, Israel refused to release 600 Palestinian prisoners due to be handed over after six Israelis had been freed in Gaza. It accused Hamas of parading the hostages for propaganda purposes. Negotiators in Egypt say an agreement was reached to free the Palestinians as part of the final swap of the first phase of the ceasefire deal. Yolan Nel in Jerusalem has been giving the details to my colleague Lucy Hockings.
It's been a bit of a confusing picture that's emerged over the course of the day. Hamas said from late last night that mediation efforts had gone on in Cairo had resolved this latest impasse over the release of these 600 Palestinian prisoners. said that it was going to go ahead with handing over the four remaining Israeli hostage bodies that it's supposed to hand over in this initial six-week stage of the Gaza ceasefire deal. And we're expecting another set of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for those bodies as well. But the latest statement that has come from Hamas, it now says the date for this exchange will be announced to what it describes as the right time. It said that the swap would take place through what it called a new mechanism guaranteeing Israel's commitment without giving more details on that.
So there's still quite a lot of clarification that's needed, Yolan. But meanwhile, today we've seen thousands of people line the streets on the road to Kibbutz near Oz because, of course, Shri Bibas and her two sons, they have really become symbols of Israel's hostage ordeal. And I see Yadan Bibas has been delivering a eulogy to his wife. What's he been saying?
So he gave this very loving tribute to his wife Shiri and to his two little sons and talked too about what he saw as his failure to protect them. Shiri, I love you and I will always love you. Shiri, you are everything to me. You are the best wife and mum. Shiri, you are my best friend. I hope you are enjoying paradise. I'm sure you're making all the angels laugh with your impressions. I hope there are plenty of butterflies for you to watch, just like you did during our picnics. Kefir, I'm sorry I didn't protect you better, but I need you to know that I love you and miss you terribly.
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