10 hours Ago By Sami Quadri
The body of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas has been returned after Hamas released her remains overnight, her family has confirmed. Israel's army confirmed they had identified the Israeli mother-of-two and said she was likely killed while in captivity with her two young sons, four-year-old Ariel and nine-month-old Kfir. Israel said on Thursday that Ms Bibas was not among the four bodies handed over as part of the ceasefire agreement , instead receiving an "anonymous body without identification".
The mix-up sparked outrage in Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing that Hamas "pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation". In a brief statement on Friday, the Red Cross confirmed it had received human remains and transferred them to Israeli authorities, without specifying whose remains they were. Dr Salem Attalah, deputy secretary general for the Palestinian Mujahedeen Brigades, said his group had handed over Ms Bibas's remains to the Red Cross.
The militant group is believed to have been holding the mother and her two children. Hamas previously claimed there was the "possibility of an error or overlap in the bodies" potentially caused by Israel "targeting and bombing the place where the family was with other Palestinians". Basem Naim, a Hamas political bureau member, later admitted "unfortunate mistakes" had occurred, also blaming Israeli bombing for mixing the bodies of Israeli hostages and Palestinians.
He added: "We confirm that it is not in our values or our interest to keep any bodies or not to abide by the covenants and agreements that we sign." Ms Bibas was kidnapped with her sons from Niz Or kibbutz during Hamas's terror attack in October 2023. The IDF confirmed the bodies of the two boys were positively identified on Thursday, claiming they had been murdered by Hamas with "bare hands".
Hamas, however, maintains Ms Bibas and her children were killed in an Israeli airstrike in November 2023. The development comes ahead of the next round of hostage releases today - the final one during the first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement. The hostages due for release are Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Tal Shoham, Omer Wenkert, Hisham al Sayed and Avera Mengisto.
According to the Hamas prisoners' media office, Israel will be releasing 602 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, adding to the hundreds already freed..
