Parading coffins of dead hostages in Gaza a violation of international law, says UN human rights official

The events have been widely condemned in the Jewish world and beyond as a “gruesome pantomine”.

An Israeli cries as a convoy of vehicles transporting the bodies of the four Israeli hostages handed over by Hamas, drives past near the southern city of Sderot (Getty)AFP via Getty Images

Adam Wagner and Adam Rose are the lawyers representing British hostage families, including Dr Sharone Lifschitz, Oded’s daughter.

"We cannot confirm yet whose bodies have been returned, but four bodies represent four whole worlds, and four total failures – as we said when we took the British hostage families to meet with Prime Ministers Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street: this is what failure looks like,” the lawyers said in a statement.

"It came as no surprise that the terrorists chose to make a gruesome pantomime of the handover of the bodies this morning. Hostage taking is inherently abusive and undignified - that is why it is a war crime.”

The Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, wrote on X: “It is pure evil to take a mother and her young children and an elderly man hostage.

"It takes another layer of evil to be responsible for their deaths. And yet a further layer of evil to trade their bodies to release hundreds of prisoners including terrorists serving life sentences for murder.

"This is what Israel is up against. Today, all decent people around the world mourn with Israel, Kibbutz Nir Oz, and the Bibas and Lifshitz families. With broken hearts, we pray for the return of all the hostages and a just and lasting peace.”