Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday condemned Hamas for failing to hand over the remains of Shiri Bibas, a mother of two taken hostage by the militant group, despite a promise to do so.
Hamas turned over the bodies of the 32-year-old German-Israeli woman’s sons, Ariel and Kfir — who were just 4 years old and 9 months old when they were abducted — along with another deceased captive, 84-year-old peace activist Oded Lifshitz, on Thursday.
However, in a grotesque twist, Israeli forensic experts later determined that the remains in a fourth coffin did not belong to Shiri Bibas as claimed.
The Israeli military called it a “violation of utmost severity” of a ceasefire deal that was already fragile.
In a statement on Friday, Netanyahu said, “The cruelty of the Hamas monsters knows no bounds.”
“We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages — both living and dead — and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and vicious violation of the agreement,” he added.
Netanyahu stated that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were “murdered with terrible cruelty while in Hamas captivity.”
Hamas has claimed they were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the early months of the war in Gaza, though no evidence has been provided to support this claim.
The children’s father, Yarden Bibas, 34, was released alive by Hamas on February 1. All four members of the family were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Hamas said earlier this week it would release six living Israeli hostages on Saturday, but the latest developments involving the Bibas family have cast doubt on that pledge.
