This is a developing story.
The Israeli military has confirmed that the two deceased children released by Hamas Thursday are the hostages Ariel and Kfir Bibas. But the military said that a third body is not that of their mother, Shiri.
The military said the country’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine, in collaboration with police, could not identify the body.
“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,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. “This is a violation of utmost severity 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, issued in the early hours of Friday morning in Israel, was the latest shock in a whirlwind of strife and tragedy for Israel. Shiri Bibas and her two young sons Kfir and Ariel were taken hostage in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and became faces of the captives’ plight and the movement to free them. Their husband and father, Yarden Bibas, was taken captive separately and released alive earlier this month.
Hamas had said in November 2023 that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir had been killed in an Israeli airstrike; Israel investigated that claim but had not confirmed it. Now, the IDF statement said Hamas murdered the boys in November 2023.
“IDF representatives informed the Bibas family that their loved ones, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, have been identified,” the statement said. “According to the assessment of professional officials, based on the intelligence available to us and forensic findings from the identification process, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023.”
This week, Hamas announced that it would be returning their bodies to Israel. On Wednesday, the Israeli government confirmed it would be receiving their bodies. But shortly afterward, relatives of the Bibas family said they had not given permission for the government to announce that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were dead.
Four coffins returned to Israel on Thursday morning. One of the bodies was quickly confirmed to be hostage Oded Lifshitz, 84. The remaining three were widely assumed to belong to Shiri and her children, and people across Israel and the world publicly mourned their deaths.
Now, the IDF is demanding that Hamas release Shiri Bibas.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to the Bibas family during this incredibly difficult time and remain committed to doing everything possible to ensure Shiri and all the hostages are brought home at the earliest opportunity,” it said in a statement.
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