On February 20, Hamas said it handed over Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir. Israel has confirmed that the bodies of the two children were in the caskets that Hamas provided to the Red Cross and were then transferred to Israel.
However, Israeli authorities have said that Hamas did not turn over the body of Shiri Bibas, rather they put the body of a Palestinian woman in the casket. Hamas has claimed it is surprised by this finding, claiming it didn’t know the body was not Shiri. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Hamas will pay a price for this latest violation.
It is believed that the Bibas family were kidnapped by Hamas and a group called the Mujahideen Brigades, which is one of many smaller terror groups in Gaza.
The latest tragedy in the fate of the Bibas family once again spotlights how Hamas invaded Israel and enabled other terrorist groups and civilians to kidnap people. Israel has said that Oded Lifshitz “was murdered in captivity by the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization,” according to Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office. This means that Israel knows some details about which organization has held some of the hostages.
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are the two largest terrorist groups in Gaza. Hamas planned the October 7 attack and used dozens of units of fighters to break holes in the fence. However, it then encouraged other terrorist groups and thousands of civilians to exploit the breaches in the fence.
While Hamas had some plans to kidnap people, it is clear that civilians and other groups engaged in a lot of the kidnappings that took place throughout the day of October 7. Hamas plans envisioned quickly kidnapping some people, maybe dozens. It had no idea it would have up to 6 hours to work its way through bases and communities, kidnapping people. The kidnapping of the Bibas family was one of the results of the complete collapse of Israel’s security forces on October 7. Their community of Nir Oz suffered a grievous massacre.
Joe Truzman to ‘Post’: Hamas leverages armed groups in Gaza
Joe Truzman, a Senior Research Analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Editor at FDD’s Long War Journal wrote on social media on February 18 that “since the start of the Gaza war, I’ve tracked statements made by Hamas and the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, which are the two terrorist groups involved in the kidnapping of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas.” He noted, “the mother and children were abducted by terrorists on October 7 and taken to Khan Yunis, where CCTV footage published by the IDF showed the family at a training camp used by the Palestinian Mujahadeen Movement, aka Palestinian Mujahideen Brigades (a Hamas ally).”
Not much is known about what happened to the family between October 7 and late November when Hamas claimed on November 29 that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir had been killed. Hamas made these claims in the context of the first hostage deal when it was supposed to hand over Shiri and the children. It said it would turn over the bodies and the hostage deal collapsed. “The Palestinian Mujahideen Movement published a follow-up statement declaring that an Israeli airstrike killed Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir, along with members of the organization who were holding the family hostage. Like the Hamas statement, the group did NOT provide evidence to support its claim,” Truzman added.
A video of the group was posted by Middle East Eye on February 20, 2025 to provide context of the handover. It showed a “field commander” of the Mujahideen Brigades saying that Shiri Bibas was an “active Israeli soldier,” as an excuse to why the group kidnapped her. The group claimed she and the children were killed in an airstrike and that the group also lost members who were guarding her. The group later took part in the handover ceremony on February 20.
The Mujahideen group was founded in 2006. Truzman has previously catalogued it as one of the 28 Iran-backed groups that operate in the West Bank. It has claimed to have an affiliate in the West Bank since 2023, a group called the Unit Of The Martyrs Of the Occupied Interior.
Al-Jazeera noted that the Mujahideen was one of many groups in Gaza fighting against Israel in a November 2023 article. It called the Mujahideen Battalions or Brigades were the “military” wing of the Mujahideen Movement, “which split from the Fatah movement, and its forces represent a former brigade of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the Martyr Jihad Al-Amarin Brigade.” It says that the brigades were founded by Omar Abu Sharia in 2006 with a strength of approximately two thousand fighters.
“The involvement of the Palestinian Mujahideen in the murder and kidnapping of the Bibas family members demonstrates the close relationship Hamas has with smaller terrorist groups in Gaza. Hamas leverages these armed groups, which act as a support mechanism and a partner in coordinated attacks against Israel,” Truzman said in a statement to the Jerusalem Post.
The Mujahideen group and Hamas may not be the only groups involved in the kidnapping. Back in February 2024 Ynet reported that IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that “the members of the Bibas family were kidnapped by an organization called ‘Lords of the Desert’.” He said at the time that “Hamas has all the details and is the address for all the abductees. We are very worried about their fate. When we have certainty, we will inform the family first.”
He was expressing concern because of the Hamas claims the family had been killed. “There are no other videos that I know of that we have not released to the public. I would like there to be additional signs of life; we are working on them all the time.”
Hamas released Yarden Bibas on February 1. It is not fully known what happened to Shiri and the two children. It is not known if the Mujahideen group was responsible for murdering them or if Hamas was. It is also not known when their bodies were handed over to Hamas or why Hamas would place the wrong body in the casket handed to the Red Cross on February 20.
What is clear is that Hamas has enabled groups such as PIJ, the Mujahideen, and others to operate in Gaza. It enables them to operate in order to use them to help fight Israel. It can also then blame various issues on them. For instance, in the past, Hamas has enabled PIJ to attack Israel, and then Hamas itself has refrained from joining PIJ. This is a convenient way for Hamas to both use and benefit from these groups’ presence.
Hamas lets them join in ceremonies as well but doesn’t give them too much credit, lest Hamas lose out on the “victory” it claims against Israel. If Hamas rises in the West Bank, it will want to partner with these groups to expand its base of operations. Israel has not held the Mujahideen group responsible officially for the murder of the Bibas family.
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