An undated family handout photo issued by the Israeli Embassy in London shows Shiri Bibas with her son Kfir.
Shiri Bibas and her two children were kidnapped during the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement after forensic testing confirmed that a body returned from Gaza on Thursday was not that of Shiri Bibas.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) identified three of the bodies handed over as those of her sons, Ariel, 5, and Kfir, 2, along with 84-year-old peace activist Oded Lifschitz. However, the fourth body was neither Shiri Bibas nor another hostage. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of “placing the body of a Gazan woman in a coffin.”
Hamas spokesman Ismail al-Thwabta stated on X (formerly Twitter) that Shiri’s remains may have been mixed with other bodies under rubble following an Israeli airstrike. The group told Reuters that they would investigate how the wrong remains were sent to Israel.
Hamas has maintained that Shiri and her children were killed in an Israeli bombing. However, Israel stated on Thursday that intelligence and forensic evidence indicated the boys “were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023.”
Israel has demanded Hamas return Shiri Bibas along with all remaining hostages.
“Whether she is alive or not, they need to bring back Shiri Bibas,” said IDF international spokesperson Lt Col Nadav Shoshani on BBC Radio 4’s Today program.
Netanyahu vowed to take decisive action, stating, “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 evil violation of the agreement.”
The IDF posted on X that “during the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body.”
“This is a severe violation 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,” the statement added.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum expressed deep sorrow, saying they were “horrified and devastated by the news that their mother, Shiri, was not returned—despite the agreement and our desperate hopes.”
Shiri Bibas, 32, and her sons Ariel, 4, and Kfir, just nine months old at the time, were kidnapped on October 7, 2023. Their story has become a powerful symbol in Israel, and news of their deaths has sparked an outpouring of grief.
Their father, Yarden Bibas, 34, was released by Hamas on February 1.
Israel has confirmed that the fourth body returned on Thursday was that of veteran peace activist Oded Lifschitz.