Mourners gather around the car carrying the coffin of slain hostage Shlomo Mantzur, during his funeral procession in Rishon Lezion, Israel, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A funeral procession for a mother and her two young sons whose remains were handed over by Hamas is being held Wednesday morning in Rishon Lezion, Israel.

Thousands of Israelis thronged streets along the country's central city of Rishon Lezion on Wednesday (February 26) to pay their respects to Shiri Bibas and her two young sons Kfir and Ariel, who were kidnapped during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7,

Tens of thousands of mourners Feb. 26 lined the streets as the funeral procession for Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, made its way nearly 40 miles from Rishon Lezion in central Israel to Tsoher Regional Cemetery in southern Israel.

Itzik Elgarat, who was murdered while in Hamas captivity in Gaza and whose body was returned to Israel last week, was laid to rest at Kibbutz Nir Oz on Monday. As the funeral procession set out from Rishon LeZion toward Nir Oz,

Mourners gather around the car carrying the coffins of slain hostages Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, during their funeral procession in Rishon Lezion, Israel, Wednesday, Feb.

By Rami Amichay and Nafisa Eltahir RISHON LEZION, Israel/CAIRO (Reuters) - Israelis mourned the family that symbolised the trauma their country suffered in the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023, as the Palestinian militant group agreed to free the last hostage bodies included in the initial phase of the Gaza ceasefire.

Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office has announced that all goods and supplies entering the Gaza Strip will be halted effective immediately. This decision comes after what the Israeli government describes as Hamas’s refusal to accept US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff’s framework for continuing negotiations,

Remains of Oded Lifshitz also handed over by Hamas to the IDF. Officials say the identification process revealed they all were murdered in captivity.

The first phase of the ceasefire that paused 15 months of brutal warfare between Israel and Hamas militants is set to end on Saturday. It’s unclear what comes next.

Israel warns of “additional consequences” if Hamas doesn’t accept what Israel says is a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire extension.

At such an event, there is no shortage of things to photograph, but a lot of the time, I felt compelled to keep my camera at my side and watch the moments with my own eyes.