Israel said on Friday that it had not found the remains of Shiri Bibas, as claimed by Hamas, among the bodies of four hostages returned from Gaza.
The Israeli military said it had identified the remains of Shiri’s two sons, Ariel and Kafir, but not Shiri’s body. The militant group handed over the remains of the four hostages to the Israeli army on Thursday through the Red Cross as part of a prisoner exchange.
“During the investigation process, it was discovered that while the remains of three of the individuals handed over were authentic, the remains of one other person were not Shiri’s and did not match those of any other abductees,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on the social media platform Telegram.
He said, “Hamas must return all the abductees, including Shiri, as per the agreement.” Israel has concluded that two of the Bibas family’s sons (Ariel and Kafir) were killed by Palestinian “terrorists” in Gaza. However, the military has denied Hamas’ claim that Ariel and Kafir’s mother, Shiri, was killed in an Israeli airstrike early in the war.
“Based on the assessment of relevant authorities and available intelligence and diagnostic indicators, Ariel and Kefir Bibas were brutally killed in custody by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in November 2023,” Adrai said.
Hamas said on Thursday that the remains of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who have become a symbol of the ordeal of the hostages since their kidnapping on October 7, 2023, were handed over. Hamas also handed over the body of a fourth hostage, Oded Lifshitz, a veteran journalist and longtime defender of Palestinian rights.
This was the first time Israeli bodies were handed over under a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of “cruel and malicious” violations of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
“We will work with determination to return Shiri home, along with all our prisoners, alive and killed, and to ensure that Hamas pays the full price for its ‘cruel and malicious’ violation of the agreement,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a video statement.
