Officials said Hamas released another set of human remains on Friday, which was what the terrorist group released was the body of the hostage Shiri Bibas, but it turned out not hers.
The incident sparked anger among Israeli officials, who the IDF called it a “very serious violation” of the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas called it a mistake and said Bibas's body might have been “mixed” with others when it was hit by Israeli air strikes.
Hamas leader Mahmoud Mardawi told media Al Arabiya that he has now returned to Bibas' body.
The International Red Cross also said it had received a group of human remains and transferred them to Israeli officials. A spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Health said it was ready for forensic testing.
Initially, the body was believed to be the body of Bibas, as well as the remains of her two children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and 84-year-old ODED LIFSHITZ, returned Thursday at the Hamas ceremony where the militant group placed it. Four black coffins were put on the stage.
The IDF said a few hours later that the test determined that the body was the body of her child, not Shiri Bibas.
The remains also do not match any other hostages held by Hamas, the IDF said. “This is an anonymous institution that is not identified,” it said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of “an unimaginable cynical act” and said Hamas failed to return to Bibas and instead released the body of a Gaza woman In the coffin. ”
Bibas and her two children were kidnapped in Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Ariel was 4 years old and Kfir was only 9 months old when he was taken away. They are the two youngest hostages.
Shiri Bibas' husband, Yarden Bibas, was taken away separately and released by Hamas on February 1 as part of a ceasefire agreement.
Israel's army said Ariel and Kfir were “incarnated and brutal murdered” in November 2023.
Daniel Hagari, a descendant of the IDF spokesman, said Friday that the children were not shot but “they killed them with their naked hands.”
“After that, they took horrible actions to cover up these atrocities,” Hagary said.
Hamas claims Shiri Bibas and her child were killed by Israeli air strikes and calls the IDF's claim a lie.
The Forum on Hostages and Missing Family Representatives of Hamas' imprisoned people said after dispatching the wrong bodies: “Our mother Shiri did not return – despite the agreement and our despair, we did not suffer from their mother Shiri. Shock and destruction. Hope.”
A spokesman for the IDF said military representatives were in contact with the Bibas family and reported that new agencies had been released.
This article was originally published on nbcnews.com.
