Body released by Hamas was that of a Gazan woman, not a hostage: Netanyahu

Hamas militants had turned over four bodies under the tenuous ceasefire that has paused over 15 months of war

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a body that Hamas militants released during the handover of remains of Israeli hostages is that of a Gazan woman instead of that of Shiri Bibas, the mother of two young boys whose bodies were returned on Thursday.

In a statement released Friday, Netanyahu criticised the handover of the wrong remains as a cruel and malicious violation of the ceasefire agreement, which has halted fighting in the Gaza Strip, and said Hamas would pay the full price for the action.

Hamas militants turned over four bodies on Thursday under the tenuous ceasefire, which has paused over 15 months of war. Israeli confirmed one body was that of Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted during the Hamas attack on Israel that started the war on Oct. 7, 2023.

 

We will work with determination to bring Shiri home together with all our hostages - both living and dead - and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and malicious violation of the agreement, Netanyahu said.

The sacred memory of Oded Lifshitz and Ariel and Kfir Bibas will be forever enshrined in the heart of the nation. May God avenge their blood. And so we will avenge, he added.

The remains of Ariel and Kfir Bibas were identified by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in collaboration with the Israel Police and the families were notified, the Israeli Defence Forces said in a statement. It said the boys were killed in captivity in November 2023.

But the additional body was not that of their mother Shiri Bibas, nor any other hostage, the military said.

"This is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organisation, which is obligated under the agreement to return four deceased hostages," the Israeli military said in a statement early Friday. "We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages."  Hamas did not immediately respond to Israel's announcement that the body was not of the boys' mother.

The announcement from the Israeli military comes as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that began January 19 remains shaky. A series of explosions Thursday on three parked buses rattled central Israel. The Israeli military said early Friday it had imposed restrictions on Palestinian movement and sealed off parts of in the West Bank amid its ongoing security operations there.

A statement on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli military would "carry out an intensive operation against centres of terrorism" in the West Bank, raising the specter of a further escalation there.

The handover of four bodies to Israel during the day Thursday had set off a nationwide outpouring of grief as flag-waving crowds lined highways on a rainy day to pay respect to a convoy carrying the coffins and thousands packed a Tel Aviv square in an emotional nighttime vigil.

Many people wiped away tears and softly sang the national anthem as the caravan wound through southern Israel a stark contrast to the celebratory return of 24 living hostages in recent weeks under a tenuous ceasefire that has paused over 15 months of war.

The handover was a grim reminder of those who died in captivity.

Hamas has said that all four were killed along with their guards in Israeli airstrikes. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Thursday that Lifshitz was killed in captivity by the Islamic Jihad militant group.

Militants who handed over the bodies displayed four black coffins on a stage in the Gaza Strip surrounded by banners, including one depicting Netanyahu as a vampire. On each coffin, a photo of one of the hostages was stapled to the side.

Large numbers of masked and armed militants looked on as the coffins were loaded onto Red Cross vehicles before being driven to Israeli forces. The military later held a small funeral ceremony, at the request of the families, before transferring the bodies to a laboratory in Israel for formal identification using DNA.