Hamas says it has handed over body of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas
It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge for what he described as a ‘malicious violation’ of the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas has handed over a body it says is that of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas after earlier releasing a different body that authorities later determined was not hers.
It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge for what he described as a “cruel and malicious violation” of the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas suggested in a statement on Friday that a mix-up of remains might have occurred after Israel bombed the area where both the Israeli hostages and Palestinians were present.
The group said it would “conduct a thorough review”.
A small militant group in Gaza that was believed to have hostage Shiri Bibas’ body said on Friday it had turned over her remains to the Red Cross.
The Red Cross confirmed in a short statement it had received human remains inside Gaza and transferred them to Israeli authorities.
The Israeli prime minister’s office said the remains were expected to be taken to Israel’s national forensics lab for testing.
It was not immediately known how long it would take to confirm identification.
Speaking during a phone interview with Al Araby, a Qatar-based television network, Hamas leader Mahmoud Mardawi confirmed the militants handed over the body of Shiri Bibas to the Red Cross.
Dr Salem Attalah, deputy secretary general for the Palestinian Mujahedeen Brigades, said it handed the remains to the Red Cross.
The militant group, which collaborates with Palestinian Islamic Jihad inside Gaza, is thought to have been holding the mother and her two boys, Kfir and Ariel Bibas.
Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said it would go ahead with the release of the six Israeli hostages on Saturday, expected to be the last living hostages freed during the ceasefire’s first phase.
Eliya Cohen, 27, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Omer Wenkert, 23, were abducted from a music festival during the Oct. 7 attack.
Tal Shoham, 40, who was taken from the community of Kibbutz Beeri, is also set to be released alongside Avera Mengistu, 39, and Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, who have been held since crossing into Gaza on their own years ago.
More than 600 Palestinians jailed in Israel will be freed in exchange, the Palestinian prisoners media office said on Friday.
Hamas has said it will also release four more bodies next week, completing the first phase of the ceasefire. It is unclear whether the truce will be extended.
Hamas turned over four bodies on Thursday as part of the ceasefire deal.
They were supposed to have been those of Shiri Bibas, her sons, Kfir and Ariel, and Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted during the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas that ignited the war.
Israeli authorities said they had positively identified the remains of the two boys and of Mr Lifshitz.
The fourth body was determined to be that of an unidentified woman from Gaza.
“We will work with determination to bring Shiri home together with all our hostages — both living and dead — and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and malicious violation of the agreement,” Mr Netanyahu said.
“The sacred memory of Oded Lifshitz and Ariel and Kfir Bibas will be forever enshrined in the heart of the nation. May God avenge their blood. And so we will avenge.”
Hamas said it had “no interest in retaining any bodies,” adding that it had “demonstrated full compliance with the agreement” in recent days and remained “committed to all its terms.”
Mr Netanyahu’s vow for revenge was rejected by the aunt of the Bibas children, who said Israeli officials had failed to protect them on the day of the attack and then abandoned them in captivity.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we did not receive an apology from you in this painful moment,” Ofri Bibas Levy said in a video statement released on Friday by a group representing the families of hostages.
“We are not seeking revenge right now. We are asking for Shiri.”
In other developments, US President Donald Trump said he will not try to muscle through his plan for the United States to take over and rebuild the Gaza Strip into a tourist destination, displacing Palestinians.
