Hamas accused of 'serious violation' of ceasefire over claims body returned from Gaza is not Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas
20 February 2025, 23:36 | Updated: 21 February 2025, 05:50
Hamas has been accused of a 'serious violation' of the Gaza ceasefire agreement after Israel claimed the body returned to them was not that of hostage Shiri Bibas.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The remains of four hostages, which were handed over to Israel on Thursday as part of an agreed prisoner exchange, were taken to morgue after travelling in convoy from Gaza.
Israel has now claimed they have instead received the remains of an "anonymous body without identification".
Ms Bibas was kidnapped alongside her husband and two sons - Ariel, 4, and nine-month-old Kfir - from the Niz Or kibbutz during the October 7 attack.
In a statement late on Thursday, the IDF said: "During the identification process, it was found that the additional body received was not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other abductee.
"It is an anonymous body without identification."
"This is a very serious violation by the Hamas terrorist organisation, which is required by the agreement to return four dead abductees," he continued.
The IDF added: "We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all of our abductees."
Israel also confirmed they had received the bodies of Shiri's two children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas.
Hamas is yet commented on Israel's claim.
The body of journalist and activist Oded Lifshitz, 83, was returned on Thursday alongside those reported to be of the Bibas family.
Al-Hayya said Hamas would also release six living hostages on Saturday, which is double the number originally planned.
In exchange, Israel will free all women and those under the age of 19 arrested since last October.
Mr Bibas was released as part of an earlier hostage swap, only to discover his family had died in an airstrike, according to Hamas.
On Thursday, the bodies were transferred in four black coffins to Red Cross vehicles in Gaza.
The remains were then carefully transported in convoy through crowd of Hamas fighters armed with guns and Palestinian observers, towards the Israel border.
There, the coffins were handed to Israel, with Israeli citizens seen to line the roads of the route in the rain as they paid their final respects to the family.
It comes as Israel's President said on Thursday that "our hearts are in tatters" following the return of the bodies.
'Turmoil'
In an earlier statement, al-Hayya said the group agreed "handing over four bodies of the occupation prisoners on Thursday 20 February, including the bodies of the Bibas family."
A further statement, released by the Bibas family, said it was aware of the Hamas statement.
"In the past few hours, we have been in turmoil following Hamas spokesperson's announcement about the planned return of our Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir this Thursday as part of the hostages' remains release phase," the statement said.
"We want to make it clear that while we are aware of these reports, we have not yet received any official confirmation regarding this matter.
"Until we receive definitive confirmation, our journey is not over.
