Israeli Military: Body Returned from Gaza Is Not Bibas Mother

The Israeli military has clarified that a body recently recovered from Gaza is not that of the mother of kidnapped Bibas family members, contradicting earlier reports.

The Israeli military stated that one of the four bodies returned from Gaza to Israel on Thursday is not Shiri Bibas, who Hamas had claimed was a hostage.

The announcement of the deaths of Shiri Bibas, 32, and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir — who would be five and two years old now — led to a wave of sorrow across Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have notified the Bibas family that their sons’ bodies were identified after Hamas returned their remains to Israel on Thursday.

However, according to the IDF, the third body did not belong to their mother.

It called for the return of her body, as well as that of the other hostages still held. Hamas has not yet responded to Israel’s claim.

The IDF posted on X that during the identification process, it was confirmed that the additional body received is not Shiri Bibas and does not match any other hostage. This remains an anonymous, unidentified body.

This represents a grave violation by the Hamas terrorist organization, which is bound by agreement to return four deceased hostages. We insist that Hamas bring Shiri back home along with all our other hostages.

According to intelligence and forensic findings, the IDF reported that in November 2023, two children “were brutally murdered by terrorists while in captivity.” Hamas had claimed that an Israeli bombing resulted in the deaths of the boys and their mother.

Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas were 32 years old, four years old, and nine months old respectively when they were kidnapped during the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7th, 2023.

Yarden Bibas, the father of the children and aged 34, was released by Hamas on February 1st.

Israel has confirmed that the fourth body returned on Thursday was identified as veteran peace activist Oded Lifshitz.

As part of the ceasefire agreement that took effect on January 19, the release of hostages’ bodies was arranged. Israel has confirmed its expectation to receive eight bodies.

The two parties consented to swap 33 hostages for approximately 1,900 prisoners within the initial six weeks of the ceasefire.

Discussions about advancing to the next stage of the agreement—which involves releasing the remaining living hostages and bringing a permanent end to the war—were scheduled to begin earlier this month but have yet to commence.

So far, twenty-eight hostages and over 1,000 prisoners have been exchanged.

Sixty-six hostages who were captured on October 7th remain in Gaza. Additionally, three hostages abducted over ten years ago are still being held there. It is believed that approximately half of all the hostages currently in Gaza are alive.

Approximately 1,200 individuals, primarily civilians, lost their lives during the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. Additionally, 251 others were captured and taken to Gaza as hostages. In retaliation, Israel initiated a large-scale military operation against Hamas that has resulted in the deaths of at least 48,297 Palestinians—mostly civilians—as reported by the health ministry run by Hamas.

According to reports, devices in two additional buses did not detonate. “Large police forces are at the scenes, searching for suspects,” they added. Fortunately, no casualties have been reported.

In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated that he had directed the IDF to conduct a “focused operation against terrorism centers” in the West Bank.