The Israeli military said it has confirmed the identities of two children whose remains were handed over by Hamas along with two others’, but also said their mother was not among those returned in “a violation of utmost severity.”
The military on Thursday night said that, after a forensic examination, it could confirm that two of the bodies returned by the Palestinian militant organization belonged to Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were among the more than 250 people abducted from Israel to the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
However, the third body was not that of their mother, Shiri Bibas. Hamas had said the remains of the woman would be among those returned to Israel on Thursday.
“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,” the Israeli military said. “This is an anonymous, unidentified body.”
“This is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organization, which is obligated under the agreement to return four deceased hostages. We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages.”
Ariel Bibas was 4 years old at the time of the attack; his brother Kfir was just 9 months. Their father, Yarden, was also taken on October 7. He was released alive earlier this month.
The fourth body returned by Hamas on Thursday had been confirmed by Israeli authorities to belong to Oded Lifschitz. Netanyahu’s office said that Lifschitz, who was in his 80s, was killed while in the captivity of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
This marks the first time that the remains of Israeli victims have been handed over since the start of the Gaza war as part of a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. The Israeli military has recovered several hostage bodies from the Gaza Strip and brought them back to Israel.
The four bodies on Thursday were first transferred in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, by Hamas to Red Cross representatives, who then took them to members of the Israeli military, Netanyahu’s office said.
According to Hamas, the bodies handed over included Shiri Bibas and her boys, Ariel and Kfir. All three also held German nationality.
Video footage of Shiri Bibas and her two red-haired sons, captured during their abduction from Kibbutz Nir Oz following the Hamas-led massacre in the Israeli border area on October 7 was broadcast worldwide.
Hamas claims that the three Bibas family members were killed in Israeli airstrikes during the early months of the war.
In exchange for the hostages, Israel is to hand over all women and minors detained since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip who were not directly involved in armed conflict against Israel.
Six more living hostages are to be freed by Hamas on Saturday, in the last round of releases under the initial six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement that went into effect on January 19.
The final step in the first phase of the agreement will be the handover of four more bodies of hostages next week, Netanyahu’s office said.
The multi-stage ceasefire agreement stipulates that during the first six-week phase, a total of 33 hostages will be gradually released in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas has released 19 Israeli hostages so far, as well as five Thai hostages who were not covered by the ceasefire agreement.
