- Israeil says Hamas returned the bodies of two children and and elderly man, but provided a fraudulent body instead of the children's mother.
- IDF evidence shows the Bibas children were killed by Hamas terrorists in November 2023, contradicting Hamas' claims of an Israeli airstrike.
- The hostage exchange deal continues with Hamas set to release six more living hostages in exchange for over 600 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas on Thursday released four bodies as part of its ceasefire agreement with Israel. But one of the bodies was an unidentified woman, not the mother of the two young children they claimed it would be.
Hamas had agreed to release the bodies of Shiri Bibas, 32; her two young sons, 4-year-old Ariel Bibas and 10-month-old Kfir Bibas; and the body of Oded Lifshitz, 83.
The bodies of the two young children and Lifshitz were identified by Israeli authorities, but the fourth body was not Shiri Bibas, Israel Defense Force officials said, nor was it any of the other hostages still being held by Hamas.
“This is an anonymous, unidentified body,” IDF said. “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.”
Hamas claims Bibas and her sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike, but the IDF reported Thursday evening that intelligence and forensic findings showed the babies “Ariel and Kfir Bibas were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023.”
In a televised statement, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said, “Contrary to Hamas’s lies, Ariel and Kfir were not killed in an airstrike. Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered in cold blood by terrorists.”
He continued, “The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys — they killed them with their bare hands. Afterward, they committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities.”
The four coffins returned to Israel were paraded before cameras in a Hamas ceremony before being delivered by the Red Cross, similar to what they have done when they have handed over live hostages. Cheerful music played, while men wearing black face coverings and green headbands with the Hamas logo stood by the coffins which were placed on a stage.
In an annual state leadership meeting with U.S. governors on Friday, President Donald Trump responded to the news, saying, “How about Hamas yesterday with the babies? Are we going to continue to take that? I don’t think so.”
Ofri Bibas, Ariel and Kfir’s aunt, responded to the return of her nephews' bodies, Friday.
“Yesterday, we received the devastating news of Ariel and Kfir’s murder in captivity. We waited for certainty, but there is no comfort in it — only immense sorrow. My sweet nephews were kidnapped alive from their homes and murdered in captivity by a cruel terrorist organization. They did not deserve such a fate,” she wrote, per The Jerusalem Post.
The boys’ father, Yarden Bibas, was abducted by Hamas separately and spent 484 days in captivity. He was released on Feb. 1 as part of phase 1 of the ceasefire deal.
On Friday, Netanyahu spoke on Hamas' violation of the hostage exchange deal in a statement posted to X.
“Not only did they kidnap the father, Yarden Bibs, the young mother, Shiri, and their two little babies. In an unspeakably cynical way, they did not return Shiri to her little children, the little angels, and they put the body of a Gazan woman in a coffin,” he said.
Netanyahu continued, “We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages — both living and dead — and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and vicious violation of the agreement.”
Currently, Hamas is still set to release six more living hostages on Saturday in exchange for Israel releasing over 600 Palestinian prisoners.
The New York Times reported that the Palestinians who will be released include roughly 50 serving life sentences for deadly attacks against Israelis, 60 serving long sentences and over 400 who had been detained during the war.