Israel claims Hamas handed over unidentified body instead of missing mother Shiri Bibas

The Israeli military said Hamas’s actions amounted to a ‘violation of utmost severity’

Hamas has said it will conduct a “thorough review” after violating its ceasefire agreement with Israel by returning an unidentified body instead of an Israeli hostage during a larger handover of remains on Thursday.

The Israel Defense Forces said early Friday local time it confirmed it had received the remains of hostages Kfir Bibas, who was 10 months old at the time of his death, and his brother Ariel Bibas, who was 4.

Both boys were “were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023,” according to the Israeli military. After testing, a third body, initially presumed to be their mother, Shiri Bibas, 32, matched neither her identity nor that of any other hostage held by Hamas, according to the IDF.

"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," Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, promising to “avenge” their deaths.

Hamas returned bodies of Israeli hostages on Thursday in a provocative ceremony (AP)

In a statement on Friday, Hamas has said it will “conduct a thorough review” of the information regarding the body, and said a mix-up of the remains may have happened due to Israeli bombing of the area where hostages were held.

The militant group said it had "no interest in retaining any bodies” and that it had "demonstrated full compliance with the agreement in recent days and remain committed to all its terms”.

"We reject Netanyahu's threats, which serve only to manipulate Israeli public opinion," Hamas added as it called on mediators to ensure the continued implementation of the ceasefire. The group also called for the unidentified remains to be returned, which Israel says are those of a Palestinian woman.

Hamas also said that Israel is expected to free 602 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Saturday’s hostage-prisoner exchange, which will also see the release of the remaining six living Israeli hostages involved in phase one of the Gaza ceasefire deal

On Thursday, the remains of Oded Lifshitz, an elderly peace activist from Kibbutz Nir Oz, were also returned to Israel.

The military said he was “murdered” in captivity by the group Islamic Jihad.

Hamas has said all four hostages were killed in Israeli air strikes.

The militant group handed over four coffins with the remains during a provocative ceremony on Thursday featuring blaring music and a poster with an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stylized as a vampire, along with text calling him a “war criminal” leading a “Nazi army.”

Yarden Bibas, Shiri Bibas’s husband and the father of Kfir and Ariel, was released alive earlier this month.

The Bibas family became known nationwide, after Shiri was captured on video swaddling her sons and being carried away by militants during Hama’s October 7 cross-border attack on Israel, in which more than 250 hostages were taken.

The story of Shiri Bibas and her family’s capture during the October 7 Hamas attack became known throughout Israel (Getty Images)

The allegedly fraudulent handover of the hostage remains, as well as the explosions of three buses in Israel in a suspected terror attack on Thursday, threatens to destroy the already fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which went into effect in January.

Last week, Hamas threatened to postpone a planned release of hostages, accusing Israel of breaking the terms of the ceasefire by shelling the territory and not allowing in humanitarian aid.

Donald Trump, meanwhile, threatened the militant group that “all hell is going to break lose” if they backed out of the deal.

Dramatic last-minute negotiations involving Qatar, Egypt, and the U.S. ensured additional hostage releases and prevented the full collapse of the ceasefire, which is only in the first of three potential stages.

Netanyahu has vowed to eliminate Hamas.

“Our heart may be broken but our spirit is not,” he said in a video address on Thursday. “And with this spirit: We will return all of our hostages. We will destroy the murderers; we will eliminate Hamas. And together, with God's help, we will ensure our future."

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a similar message on Thursday.

“We extend our deepest sympathies for the victims' families who have suffered the unimaginable,” he wrote on X. “Hamas is evil – pure evil – and must be eradicated. ALL hostages must come home NOW.”