The family of Shiri Bibas, an Israeli hostage, has announced that a body returned by Hamas on Friday is confirmed to be hers. In a heartfelt statement, they expressed their grief, stating, “Our Shiri was murdered in captivity and has now returned home.” However, the identification has not yet been officially confirmed by Israel’s forensic officials, who are currently examining the remains.
Body handover amid ongoing hostage negotiations
This development follows previous attempts by Hamas to return what they claimed were the remains of Shiri Bibas, which were handed over on Thursday. Israeli authorities reported that those remains belonged to an unidentified woman, raising concerns over the accuracy of Hamas’s claims.
In a significant step in negotiations, six living hostages are set to be released by Hamas on Saturday as part of a ceasefire agreement, which also includes the release of over 600 Palestinian prisoners by Israel. The Bibas family added, “For 16 months, we sought certainty, and now that we have it, there is no comfort in it, but we hope for the beginning of a closure.”
Conflicting narratives and ongoing investigations
Hamas previously alleged that Shiri’s mother and her two children were killed in an Israeli airstrike. However, Israeli sources challenged this narrative. A senior Hamas official confirmed to a media outlet that the handover of Shiri’s remains to the Red Cross took place on Friday evening. Following the latest forensic analysis, Israel accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement after it was revealed that the remains handed over on Thursday were not those of Shiri Bibas.
The bodies of her sons, Ariel and Kfir, were also returned to Israel along with another hostage, Oded Lifschitz. Hamas spokesman Ismail al-Thawabta suggested that Shiri’s remains had been mixed with other bodies under rubble following the airstrike. In response, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated in a press conference that forensic findings indicated that the boys had been killed “deliberately” rather than in an airstrike, with evidence shared with international partners for verification.
Shiri, along with her sons Ariel, age four, and Kfir, aged nine months, were kidnapped during Hamas’s attacks on October 7, 2023. They were taken captive alongside their father, Yarden Bibas, who was released alive by Hamas on February 1.
The ongoing ceasefire deal, which commenced on January 19 and is set to last for 42 days, includes provisions for Hamas to release 33 hostages in exchange for Israel freeing 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. On Saturday, the release of six hostages is part of this agreement, which will continue to allow for further exchanges of living hostages and the return of deceased hostages’ remains.
Since the October 7 attacks, approximately 1,200 individuals, primarily civilians, have lost their lives, and 251 others were taken as hostages back to Gaza. In retaliation, Israel launched an extensive military operation against Hamas, which has reportedly resulted in over 48,319 Palestinian fatalities, predominantly among civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry.