Thousands line streets in Israel for Bibas family funeral procession

Thousands of mourners in Israel have gathered on the streets for the funeral procession of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons.

Ms Bibas, 32, was kidnapped with four-year-old Ariel, and nine-month-old Kfir from the Niz Or kibbutz during Hamas's attack on Israel in October 2023.

People holding up Israeli flags and orange balloons lined the streets to pay their final respects.

The extended Bibas family has been active at protests, branding the colour orange as the symbol of their fight for the "ginger babies".

Hamas released their bodies last week as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel, though initially the militant group did not release the correct body for Ms Bibas - causing outrage.

The body of the Israeli mother-of-two was eventually released. She and her children are to be buried near Niz Or kibbutz during a private ceremony on Wednesday afternoon.

Hamas has claimed they were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Israel denies this and says they were killed by their captors.

The children's father, Yarden Bibas, who was taken hostage separately from his family, was freed on 1 February.

The three will be buried next to Ms Bibas's parents, who were also killed in the attack.

Kfir was the youngest of about 30 children abducted by Hamas.

The infant, with red hair and a toothless smile, quickly became well-known across Israel. His ordeal was raised by Israeli leaders on podiums around the world.

The body of journalist and peace activist Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted, was also repatriated at the same time as the Bibas family.

Hamas handed over the remains as part of the ceasefire agreement reached with Israel last month that's seen living Israeli hostages swapped with Palestinian prisoners.

The four bodies were transferred in black coffins in a carefully orchestrated public display involving dozens of armed Hamas militants - which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as "despicable", and UN human rights chief Volker Turk said was "cruel" and "inhumane".