Israeli military said one of the four bodies returning to Israel from Gaza on Thursday was not hostage Shiri Bibas, as Hamas said.
The news that Shiri Bibas, 33, and her two sons, Ariel and Kfie, are now five and two, has sparked grief in Israel.
The IDF has informed the Bibas family that her son's body has been identified after being given to Israel by Hamas on Thursday.
The IDF said, but the third corpse was not the mother's.
Hamas has not commented on Israel's claims yet.
“During the identification process, it was determined that the additional agency received was not Shiri Bibas's, and no other hostage match was found. This was an anonymous, unidentified body,” IDF posted on X.
“This violates the maximum seriousness of the Hamas terrorist organization, which must return hostages to the four dead under the agreement. We ask Hamas to return Siri to home with all our hostages.”
Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were 32 years old, four and nine months old, kidnapped in an October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
On February 1, Hamas released the father of the 34-year-old, Yarden Bibas.
Israel has confirmed that the fourth agency to return on Thursday is veteran peace activist ODED LIFSHITZ.
The release of hostage bodies was agreed as part of the ceasefire agreement, which came into effect on January 19. Israel has confirmed that there will be eight.
Both sides agreed to exchange 33 hostages for about 1,900 prisoners before the end of the first six weeks of the ceasefire.
Negotiations on progressing to the next phase – the remaining hostages will be released in that deal, and the war will end permanently) will begin early this month, but have not yet begun.
So far, 28 hostages and more than 1,000 prisoners have been exchanged.
The 66 people hijacked on October 7 are still being held in Gaza. More than a decade ago, the other three hostages were also held. About half of all hostages believed to be still in Gaza are still alive.
About 1,200 people (mainly civilians) were killed in the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and another 251 were taken back to Gaza as hostages. According to Hamas-Ministry of Operations, Israel launched a massive military campaign against Hamas, which killed at least 48,297 Palestinians (mainly civilians).
