The militant Palestinian organization Hamas said that it had now handed over the body of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas, who was killed in the Gaza Strip, to the Red Cross.
A Hamas official confirmed this to dpa on Friday.
The mortal remains of the woman, together with those of her two small children, should have been returned to Israel on Thursday.
However, the coffin that Hamas had handed over to the Red Cross contained the body of an unknown woman.
The terrorist organization later admitted that a possible mistake had been made.
The exchange – whether intentional or accidental – has sparked outrage in Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Hamas for failing to hand over the remains of Shiri, and said the body released was that of a Gaza resident.
Hamas turned over the bodies of the 32-year-old German-Israeli woman’s sons, Ariel and Kfir — who were just 4 years old and 9 months old when they were abducted — along with another deceased captive, 84-year-old peace activist Oded Lifshitz, on Thursday.
Israeli forensic experts later determined that the remains in a fourth coffin did not belong to Shiri Bibas as Hamas claimed.
The Israeli military called it a “violation of utmost severity” of a ceasefire deal that was already fragile.
In a statement, Netanyahu said, “The cruelty of the Hamas monsters knows no bounds.”
“We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages — both living and dead — and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and vicious violation of the agreement,” he added.
He also stated that Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were “murdered with terrible cruelty while in Hamas captivity.”
Hamas has claimed they were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the early months of the war in Gaza, though no evidence has been provided to support this.
Ismail al-Thawabta, a Hamas spokesman, described the incident as a mistake, saying Shiri Bibas’ remains had been mixed with those of other people who died when a building was struck.
He said Netanyhau “is the one who bears full responsibility for killing her and her children in a horrific and brutal manner.”
The children’s father, Yarden Bibas, 34, was released alive by Hamas on February 1. All four members of the family were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said it was “horrified and devastated” by the news that Shiri was not returned, “despite the agreement and our desperate hopes.”
“To the world, we say: Do not look away. In Hamas’ hell in Gaza, 70 more of our children, brothers, sisters, and parents remain in captivity, enduring unimaginable terror. Do not abandon them to their fate. Save them from this nightmare,” a statement said.
Six more living hostages are to be freed by Hamas on Saturday, in the last round of releases under the initial six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement that went into effect on January 19.
The final step in the first phase of the agreement will be the handover of four more bodies of hostages next week.
But the latest developments involving the Bibas family have cast doubt on the process.
In Berlin, the German government slammed Hamas over the “unbelievable perfidy and the unbelievable repulsiveness” on display when handing over the remains of Israeli hostages a day earlier.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin said on Friday that it was hard to imagine “the hell that the family and relatives are going through right now.”
Hamas set up a stage at Thursday’s handover site, and numerous cheering onlookers gathered alongside hooded and masked militants in uniform.
Four black coffins were displayed on the stage, with a backdrop depicting Netanyahu as a bloodied vampire hovering over images of the four deceased hostages.
Israel closes main crossing for aid deliveries
Israel had closed the main crossing for aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, a spokesman for Netanyahu said on Friday, without providing any reasons.
Spokesman Omer Dostri stated on X that “the Kerem Shalom crossing is closed today, and no equipment has entered Gaza since yesterday.”
The Israeli authority for Palestinian affairs, COGAT, also confirmed the closure when asked, without giving any reasons either.
According to Hamas, about 10 container houses were brought into Gaza through Kerem Shalom shortly before the closure.
The delivery of these temporary homes for the about 2 million Gazans living in tents and ruins is one of Hamas’ key demands for the continuation of the ceasefire and the agreed exchange of Israeli hostages from Gaza for imprisoned Palestinians.
