One of the four bodies handed over to Israel on Thursday by Palestinian militants belongs to an unidentified individual, not hostage Shiri Silberman Bibas, announced the Israeli army on Friday, condemning the "egregious violation" of the fragile ceasefire that halted the 15-month war in Gaza.
This statement came after the return of the remains, which was accompanied by a propaganda ceremony, sparked outrage across Israel.
At the same time, the remains of her two young children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, have been identified by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in collaboration with the Israeli police, and their relatives have been informed, according to a statement from the IDF.
"Kfir and Ariel were abducted alive along with their mother, but returned in coffins and alone", the Israeli military wrote on the X platform.
The military also confirmed that one body belongs to Odedd Lifshitz, who was 83 years old when he was abducted during the Hamas attack that started the war on October 7, 2023.
During the examination, it was determined that another body, which Hamas claimed was Shiri Silberman Bibas, "does not match the DNA of any other hostage". "This is an unidentified body", the army stated.
"We call on Hamas to return Shiri Bibas and all the abducted", wrote Arabic-speaking Israeli army spokesperson Avichai Adraee on Telegram after accusing the group of handing over the body of an unknown person instead of the remains of the Israeli hostage.
According to competent authorities and based on available information and diagnostic indicators, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were brutally murdered in captivity by Palestinian terrorists in November 2023.Avichai Adraee spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces
Hamas has always claimed that Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were four years and eight and a half months old, respectively, at the time of their abduction in Israel, died during Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip.
Kfir Bibas was the youngest of the 251 hostages taken on October 7, 2023. The father of the two children, 35-year-old Yarden Bibas, was released on February 1.
Yarden Bibas, who was taken hostage separately from his wife and children, was freed on February 1.
Netanyahu: Israel will return Shiri Bibas's body, Hamas "will pay dearly"
The Prime Minister of Israel condemned the "unspeakable cynicism" of Hamas for handing over the body of "a Gaza resident" instead of Shiri Bibas.
"The brutality of the Hamas monsters knows no bounds, – he stated in a video address. – They not only abducted the father, Yarden Bibas, the young mother, Shiri, and their two small children. But with unspeakable cynicism, they did not return Shiri along with her small children, but placed the body of a Gaza resident in a coffin."
The head of government, Netanyahu, promised that Israel "will act decisively to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages – alive and dead – and ensure that Hamas pays dearly for this cruel and malicious violation of the agreement".