Israel says child hostages identified but other released body not their mother
IDF: Body returned from Gaza is not Bibas mother
Two bodies Hamas returned to Israel have been identified as Bibas children, but the third body was not Shiri Bibas, the mother of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, the Israeli Defense Forces confirmed. LiveNOW's Andrew Craft discusses the latest in the Middle East with the FDD's Ben Cohen.
TEL AVIV, Israel - Forensic scientists identified the remains of two Israeli child hostages handed over by Hamas, but another body said to be their mother was "an anonymous, unidentified body," the Israeli military said Friday.
Hamas releases bodies of 4 hostages
Hamas on Thursday released the bodies of four Israeli hostages, including two young children who were long feared dead following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. But another body released by Hamas was not the boys’ mother, the Israeli military said.
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 Defense Forces said in a statement. The IDF said that they were "brutally murdered" by terrorists in captivity in Nov. 2023.
Israeli also confirmed one body was that of Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted during the Hamas attack that started the war.
An Israeli police officer salutes as the convoy transporting the bodies of Israeli hostages arrives at the Abu Kabir National Center for Forensic Medicine.. (Credit: Eyal Warshavsky/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Released body not Shiri Bibas, IDF says
The additional body was not that of Shiri Bibas, nor any other hostage, the IDF stated.
What they're saying:
"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," IDF said in a statement Thursday.
IDF also wrote on its social media account on X, "Kfir and Ariel were kidnapped alive with their mother yet returned in coffins and alone. Hamas murdered these innocent babies in captivity. We’re heartbroken and outraged—as the world should be."
Hamas did not immediately respond to Israel’s announcement that the body was not of the boys’ mother.
What's next:
The first phase of the ceasefire ends in early March, but Israel and Hamas have yet to negotiate the second and more difficult phase. Palestinians and Arab countries have universally rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to remove the Palestinian population from Gaza and take over the territory.
Hamas is set to free six living hostages on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and says it will release four more bodies next week, completing the first phase.
Hamas has said it won't release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.
Bibas infant was youngest hostage
The backstory:
Kfir, who at 9 months was the youngest hostage, was a red-headed infant with a toothless smile when militants stormed the family’s home on Oct. 7, 2023. His brother, Ariel, was 4. Video from that day showed a terrified Shiri swaddling the boys as militants led them into Gaza.
Her husband, Yarden Bibas, was taken separately and released this month.
Relatives in Israel have clung to hope, marking the boys' birthdays.
A cousin of Shiri who lives in Buenos Aires, told the local Radio Con Vos station she has been reliving the trauma of the abduction. Romina Miasnik said she hoped her loved ones "can become a symbol of something new, of coexistence, of hatred no longer having a place."
Supporters throughout Israel have worn orange — a reference to the two boys' hair color — and a popular children’s song was written in their honor.
Like the Bibas family, Lifshitz was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with his wife, Yocheved, who was freed early in the war as an apparent humanitarian gesture.