TEL AVIV, Israel — Hamas on Thursday released the bodies of four Israeli hostages, said to include a mother and her two children who have long been feared dead and had come to symbolize the nation’s agony following the attack led by the militant group on southern Israel in 2023.

The remains were presumed to include Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir — and the Israeli government confirmed that one of the bodies returned was of Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted. Kfir, who was 9 months old when he was kidnapped, was the youngest captive. Hamas has said that all four were killed along with their guards in Israeli airstrikes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that Lifshitz was killed in captivity by the Islamic Jihad militant group. It gave no further details.

The somber mood across Israel on Thursday contrasted with the sense of joy and relief that have accompanied the recent return of living hostages under the month-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Thousands of mourners carrying Israeli flags and yellow solidarity flags lined Israeli highways to pay tribute as vehicles carrying the remains drove by. As waves of pouring rain moved through the area, they wiped away tears or quietly sang the national anthem as the convoy passed. Just before sunset, a double rainbow unfolded across the sky.

In Tel Aviv, thousands of people gathered at the city’s Hostage Square for a ceremony, including the recitation of traditional mourning prayers. Some in the crowd held orange balloons, in honor of the Bibas boys, and the crowd swelled after sundown as musicians performed subdued ballads, matching the nation’s sadness.

“Our hearts — the hearts of an entire nation — lie in tatters,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a statement. “On behalf of the State of Israel, I bow my head and ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely.”

Before the handoff of the bodies, militants in the Gaza Strip displayed four black coffins on a stage surrounded by banners, including a large one depicting Netanyahu as a vampire. Thousands of people, including large numbers of masked and armed militants, looked on as the coffins were loaded onto Red Cross vehicles before being driven to Israeli forces.

The Israeli military held a small funeral ceremony, at the request of the families, before transferring the bodies to a laboratory for formal identification using DNA, a process that could take up to two days.

Lifshitz’s family later said that his remains had been officially identified.

Israelis have celebrated the return of 24 living hostages in recent weeks under a tenuous ceasefire that paused over 15 months of war.

The four bodies were the first of eight hostages that Israel believes are dead that are set to be returned during the current phase of the ceasefire, set to end at the beginning of March.