News

Hamas To Return Bodies Of Four Israeli Hostages Amid Ceasefire Deal

Published

1 year ago

February 20, 2025

Editor

Hamas is due to hand over the bodies of four hostages on Thursday, including those of the Bibas family, who have become symbols of the hostage crisis that has gripped Israel since the Gaza war broke out.

The transfer of the bodies is the first such handover of remains by Hamas since its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.

The Palestinian militant group said the return of the bodies of Shiri Bibas, her two young boys —- Kfir and Ariel -— and a fourth captive, Oded Lifshitz, would take place in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis.

Footage of their abduction, filmed and broadcast by Hamas militants during their attack on Israel, showed the mother and her sons Ariel, then four, and Kfir, just nine months old, being seized from their home near the Gaza border.

Yarden Bibas, the boys’ father and Shiri’s husband, was abducted separately on October 7, 2023, and was released from the Gaza Strip in a previous hostage-prisoner exchange on February 1.

The repatriation of their bodies is part of the first phase of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which took effect on January 19 after more than 15 months of fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Thursday would be “a very difficult day for the State of Israel -— a heartbreaking day, a day of grief”.

Under the ceasefire’s first phase, 19 Israeli hostages have been released by militants so far in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners in a series of Red Cross-mediated swaps.

Of the remaining 14 Gaza hostages eligible for release under phase one, Israel says eight are dead.

The Bibas family members have become national symbols of the hostage ordeal, encapsulating the despair that has gripped the nation since the Hamas attack.

While their deaths are largely accepted as fact abroad after Hamas said they were killed in an Israeli air strike early in the war, Israel has never confirmed the claim and many remain unconvinced — including the Bibas family.

Late on Wednesday, the Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said it had been informed about the “heart-shattering” news of the deaths of the three Bibas family members.

The Bibas family said it would wait for a confirmation from official channels.

“Should we receive devastating news, it must come through the proper official channels after all identification procedures are completed,” it said in a statement late Wednesday.

Israeli authorities have not officially named any of those to be returned, but Netanyahu’s office said on Wednesday that it had received a list of the hostages whose bodies were to be handed over and that the families had been informed.

The National Forensic Medicine Institute in Tel Aviv has mobilised 10 doctors to expedite the identification process, public broadcaster Kan reported on Wednesday.

Israel and Hamas announced a deal earlier this week for the return of the remains of eight hostages in two groups this week and next, as well as the release of six living Israeli captives on Saturday.

The hostages forum named the six as Eliya Cohen, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Hisham al-Sayed, and Avera Mengistu.

The ceasefire in Gaza has been held despite accusations of violations on both sides.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday that talks would begin “this week” on the second phase, which is expected to lay out a more permanent end to the war.

Senior Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP on Wednesday that Hamas was ready to free all remaining hostages held in Gaza in a single swap during phase two.

He did not clarify how many hostages were currently being held by Hamas or other militant groups.

Hamas and its allies took 251 people hostage during the attack, of whom 70 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.

That 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 48,297 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.

AFP

News

Edo NLC Crisis: Caretaker Committee Drags Rival Exco, Govt To Court

Published

3 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Editor

The division in the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), took a new dimension on Wednesday as Prof. Monday Monday Lewis Igbafen-led caretaker committee approached the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Benin Judicial Division, seeking to affirm its authority and restrain a rival executive from parading itself as the council’s leadership.

Joined in the suit are the Edo State Government, the Commissioner for Labour and Productivity, and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.

In a suit marked: NICN/BEN/12/2026, and filed before the court in Benin, the claimant, Igbafen, acting for himself and on behalf of the NLC Caretaker Committee in Edo State, is challenging the continued occupation of the union’s secretariat and control of its assets by members of the Bernard Egwakhide-led factional State Executive Council.

The claimants are asking the court to declare that the caretaker committee (Igbafen-led faction), constituted on August 11, 2025, by the NLC national leadership, remains the only lawful authority to administer the affairs of the Edo State Council pending fresh elections.

They further seek a declaration that the continued occupation of the NLC secretariat located at No. 1 Teboga Road, Benin City, as well as the retention of union assets, financial records, and official instruments by the defendants, is illegal and void.

The suit also prays for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from parading themselves as officials of the NLC Edo Council or interfering with the functions of the caretaker committee.

In addition, the claimants are seeking a mandatory order compelling the defendants to immediately hand over the secretariat, vehicles, financial documents, cheque books, and all other properties belonging to the union.

The caretaker committee further urged the court to restrain the state government and its officials from interfering in the internal affairs of the union, alleging undue support for the dissolved executive.

The claimants further demand N50 million as general and exemplary damages against the defendants for alleged unlawful usurpation of office and acts prejudicial to the administration of the council.

According to court documents made available to our correspondent, the crisis followed the dissolution of the Edo State Council by the NLC National Executive Council on February 27, 2025, over allegations of misconduct, anti-union activities, and constitutional violations.

However, the matter has yet to be assigned a hearing date.

News

Transfer: Premier League Clubs Scramble For Dele-Bashiru

Published

9 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Editor

Lazio midfielder, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru is a subject of interest from three Premier League clubs, according to Sky Sports.

Lazio reportedly rejected offers from Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth for the Nigeria international in January.

La Biancolesti are bracing for more interest in Dele-Bashiru ahead of the summer transfer window, according to Sky Sports.

The 24-year-old has two years left on his contract with the Serie A club.

The attacking midfielder joined the Rome-based club from Turkish Super Lig outfit Hatayspor in 2024.

He has been a regular feature for Lazio this season.

News

Xenophobic Attacks: Nigerian Students To Picket MTN, MultiChoice, Other Businesses

Published

9 hours ago

May 6, 2026

Editor

The leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS South-West Zone D, has announced plans to picket South African companies in Nigeria following the ongoing xenophobic attacks in the country.

DAILY POST reports that some Nigerians were recently killed in South Africa over the violent attacks.

A statement issued to newsmen by Comrade Adeyemo Josiah Kayode, Coordinator, NANS South-West, Zone D, said that the association is mobilizing to take decisive and lawful action by organizing peaceful picketing and mass advocacy against South African business interests operating in Nigeria.

“We categorically state that the continued targeting of Nigerians under any guise is unacceptable and must come to an immediate end.

“This will include major corporations such as MTN Group and MultiChoice Group. It is morally indefensible for businesses to thrive in an environment where the lives of Nigerians are protected, while Nigerians are subjected to fear and violence elsewhere.

“This contradiction will no longer be tolerated,” the statement said.