One of the four bodies returned by Hamas to Israel on Thursday is not that of the hostage Shiri Bibas, Israel’s military has said, calling it a “violation of utmost severity” of a ceasefire deal that was already precarious.
The Israeli military confirmed that two of the bodies belonged to Bibas’s children, Ariel and Kfir, in the early hours of Friday. However, it added: “During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body.”
Hamas has not issued any public comment so far on the Israeli accusation, which threatens to derail the fragile ceasefire agreement reached with US backing and with the help of Qatari and Egyptian mediators last month. Thursday’s release marked the first time the group has returned the remains of dead hostages.
The army said it had notified the family, including Yarden Bibas, Shiri’s husband and father of the two boys, who was released early this month as part of the truce deal. The IDF added that intelligence and forensic findings showed that Bibas’s children had been “murdered by terrorists”. Hamas had said the boys and their mother were killed in an Israeli bombing.
Bibas and her children – who Hamas says were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the early days of the war – became a symbol of the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023 that ignited the war in Gaza. The body of the fourth hostage has been confirmed as that of 85-year-old Oded Lifshitz, according to his family.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Friday that Hamas had handed over the body of a “Gazan woman” instead of Bibas and that Israel would make Hamas pay.
“In an unimaginably cynical manner, they did not return Shiri to her small children, the little angels, and instead placed the body of a Gazan woman in a coffin,” Netanyahu said in a video statement. “We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages – both living and dead – and ensure Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement.”
Morgues in Gaza began overflowing very early on in the war, which has killed about 48,000 people. During the fighting, many of the dead were buried in mass graves with the intention of holding dignified funerals and moving bodies to graveyards when the situation was safer. About 1,200 people were killed on 7 October, and another 250 taken hostage.
A top US official issued a stark warning for Hamas after the announcement from Israel that Shiri Bibas’s body had not been returned. Speaking to CNN, the US envoy Adam Boehler said it was “horrific” and a “clear violation” of the truce halting fighting in the Gaza Strip. “If I were them, I’d release everybody or they are going to face total annihilation,” said Boehler, who serves as the US envoy for hostages.
Friday’s statement came hours after Netanyahu ordered the military to conduct an “intense operation” against “terror hubs” in the occupied West Bank after a series of explosions on three parked buses in Bat Yam, a city outside Tel Aviv, that authorities said was a suspected terrorist attack. No injuries were reported.
Explosives were found on two other buses but did not detonate, police spokesperson Asi Aharoni told Channel 13 TV. Israeli police said the five bombs were identical and equipped with timers, and bomb squads were defusing the unexploded bombs.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosions.
Israel has been carrying out intensified raids on the occupied West Bank since October 2023, killing hundreds of people . At least 51 Palestinians including seven children have been killed an a crackdown on the northern West Bank launched by Israel after the Gaza ceasefire went into effect on 19 January, according to the UN.
Thursday’s handover of bodies is to be followed by the return of six living hostages on Saturday, in exchange for hundreds more Palestinian prisoners and detainees, expected to be women and minors detained by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Negotiations for a second phase, expected to cover the return of about 60 remaining hostages, less than half of whom are believed to be alive, and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, are expected to begin in the coming days.
Netanyahu has long-resisted talks aimed at ending the war: much of his far-right coalition government opposes such a step if it leaves Hamas as a significant force inside the strip.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
