Body returned from Gaza is not mother, Israeli military says
PA MediaIsrael accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement after forensic tests showed that the body returned from Gaza on Thursday was not Shiri Bibas’s body.
The IDF said the handed over to the other three bodies were her sons Ariel and Kfir, who were originally five and two years old, the IDF said.
Hamas has not commented on Israel’s claims yet.
Israel demanded that her body be returned with the rest of the hostages.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Friday that Israel will “make sure Hamas pays full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement.”
“We will take the determination to bring Shiri home with all our hostages,” Netanyahu said.
“During the proof of identity, it is determined that the additional agency received is not Shiri Bibas and there is no match for any other hostages. This is an anonymous, unidentified agency,” the IDF posted on X said.
“This violates the maximum seriousness of the Hamas terrorist organization, which must return hostages to the four dead under the agreement. We ask Hamas to return Siri to home with all our hostages.”
The IDF said that according to the intelligence and forensic investigation, the two children were “incarcerated in November 2023 and were brutally murdered by terrorists.” Hamas said the boy and their mother were killed in the Israeli bombing.
The hostages and missing families said, “This is shocked and destroyed by the news that their mother Shiri was not returned despite the agreement and our urgent hope”.
Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were 32 years old, four and nine months old in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. .
On February 1, Hamas released the father of the 34-year-old, Yarden Bibas.
Israel has confirmed that the fourth agency to return on Thursday is veteran peace activist ODED LIFSHITZ.
The release of hostage bodies was agreed as part of the ceasefire agreement that came into effect on January 19, and Israel has confirmed that it is expected to hand over eight bodies.
Both sides agreed to exchange 33 hostages for about 1,900 prisoners before the end of the first six weeks of the ceasefire.
Negotiations on progressing to the next phase – the remaining hostages will be released in that deal, and the war will end permanently) will begin early this month, but have not yet begun.
So far, 28 hostages and more than 1,000 prisoners have been exchanged.
The 66 people hijacked on October 7 are still being held in Gaza. More than a decade ago, the other three hostages were also held. About half of all hostages believed to be still in Gaza are still alive.
About 1,200 people (mainly civilians) were killed in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and another 251 were taken back to Gaza as hostages. According to Hamas-Ministry of Operations, Israel launched a massive military campaign against Hamas, which killed at least 48,297 Palestinians (mainly civilians).
Also on Thursday Three buses explode in bat yam south of Tel AvivIsraeli police are talking about suspected terrorist attacks.
They said the equipment in the other two buses failed to explode, adding: “The large policeman is looking for the suspect at the scene.” No casualties.
In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that he had ordered “intensive operations against the terrorism centre” in the West Bank.
