Israel has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire deal after forensic testing revealed the body returned from Gaza on Thursday was not that of Shiri Bibas.
The three other bodies handed over have been identified as her sons, Ariel and Kfir, who would have been aged five and two, and peace activist Oded Lifschitz, 84, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
But the fourth body was not Shiri nor another hostage, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleging that Hamas “put the body of a Gazan woman in a coffin”.
A Hamas spokesman, Ismail al-Thawabta, said on X on Friday that Shiri’s remains seem to have been mixed up with other bodies under the rubble of a structure after an Israeli air strike.
The group told Reuters news agency they would investigate what had led to the wrong remains being sent to Israel.
They also reiterated their previous statement which said the children and their mother were killed in an Israeli bombing.
In a briefing on Friday, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Hamas had killed the boys “with their bare hands” and “committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities.”
He said that assessment was based on “forensic findings” and “intelligence” that has been shared with Israel’s “partners around the world so they can verify it”. This evidence has not been seen or verified by the BBC.
Israel demanded that Hamas return Shiri along with the other remaining hostages.
“Whether she is alive or not, they need to bring back Shiri Bibas,” IDF international spokesperson Lt Col Nadav Shoshani told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme.
Netanyahu said “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”.
In a statement, Hamas said it affirmed its “seriousness and full commitment to all our obligations” and had no interest in “non-compliance”.
Shortly afterwards, the group released the names of the hostages to be released on Saturday. On the list are six hostages, including two people held for a decade or more.
Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were aged 32, four and nine months when they were kidnapped during the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023.
They have become a symbol for many in Israel and the news that their bodies would be returned to Israel was met with an outpouring of grief.
On Thursday, 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 violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organisation, which is obligated under the agreement to return four deceased hostages.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said it was “horrified and devastated by the news that their mother, Shiri, was not returned—despite the agreement and our desperate hopes”.
The children’s father Yarden Bibas, 34, was released by Hamas on 1 February.
Israel has confirmed that the fourth body returned on Thursday was that of veteran peace activist, Oded Lifschitz.
The release of hostages’ bodies was agreed as part of the ceasefire deal which came into effect on 19 January, and Israel has confirmed it expects eight bodies will be handed over.
The two sides agreed to exchange 33 hostages for about 1,900 prisoners by the end of the first six weeks of the ceasefire.
Talks on progressing to the next phase of the deal – under which the remaining living hostages would be released and the war would end permanently – were due to start earlier this month but have not yet begun.
Twenty-eight hostages and more than 1,000 prisoners have so far been exchanged.
Sixty-six hostages taken on 7 October are still being held in Gaza. Three other hostages, taken more than a decade ago, are also being held. About half of all the hostages still in Gaza are believed to be alive.
About 1,200 people – mostly civilians – were killed in the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 and 251 others taken back to Gaza as hostages. Israel launched a massive military campaign against Hamas in response, which has killed at least 48,297 Palestinians – mainly civilians – according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Also on Thursday, three buses exploded in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, in what Israeli police said is a suspected terror attack.
Devices in two other buses failed to explode, they said, adding that “large police forces are at the scenes, searching for suspects”. No casualties have been reported.
In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced he had ordered the IDF to carry out an “intensive operation against centers of terrorism” in the West Bank.
