Chief Rabbi

Those who declined to attend included Israel's own president and the chief rabbi of the UK, Sir Ephraim Mirvis.

Chief Rabbi Mirvis declined to participate "having been made aware of the attendance of a number of far-right populist politicians", his office said in a statement issued last week.

Hundreds of people came to pay their respects, including MPs, Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer, the Chief Rabbi and other British-Israeli families whose relatives were murdered on 7 October or taken hostage.

After Thursday morning's handover, at a military ceremony on the edge of the Gaza Strip, the coffins carrying the hostages were draped with Israeli flags and prayers offered by the army's chief rabbi.

Poland's chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, said the Jewish community would miss Mr Turski greatly.