Family members and forensic experts confirm that the new remains returned by Hamas belong to deceased Bibas.
The Israeli Bibas family confirmed that the remains of Shiri Bibas had been returned by Hamas, one day after the announcement that the Palestinian group had made an unidentified body.
On Friday, Hamas released the remains of Bibas, whose poor identification in a transfer earlier caused anger of the Israeli government and threatened to derail the fragile agreement of ceasefies from Gaza.
The Bibas community, Kibbutz Nir Oz, also confirmed his identity on Saturday, just a few hours before the seventh exchange of captive prisoners under the cease-fire agreement.
“After the process of identifying at the Institute of Legal Medicine, this morning, we received the news that we feared the most. Our Shiri was murdered in captivity and has now returned home to her sons, her husband, her sister and her whole family to rest, “the Bibas family said in a statement published on Saturday.
The family, however, said that the Israeli government had provided no details on the circumstances that led to the death of Bibas and his two young sons, KFIR and Ariel.
Hamas had agreed to put Bibas’ bodies and its two young sons as well as the remains of a fourth captive on Thursday under a ceasefire that has interrupted the fights in Gaza since last month.
Hamas said the children and their mother had been killed in an Israeli air attack in November 2023.
Four bodies were delivered, but Israel later said that one of the remains did not belong to the eldest bibas.
On Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is committed to “ensuring that Hamas pays the high price” for what he described as a “violation” of the cease-fire agreement.
Hamas later admitted “the possibility of an error or confusion of bodies”, which it attributed to the Israeli bombing of the area which had killed several people.
Basem Naim, member of the Hamas political bureau, said that “unhappy errors” could occur, especially since Israeli bombings had mixed the bodies of Israeli captives and Palestinians, of which thousands were still buried under the rubble Due to implacable Israeli bombings.
“We confirm that it is not in our values or our interest in keeping bodies or not respecting the alliances and agreements that we signs,” he said in a statement.
Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Gaza government media office managed by Hamas, said that Netanyahu “has the full responsibility of killing her as well as her children.”
The incident highlighted the fragility of the cease-fire agreement concluded with the support of the United States and with the help of Qatarian and Egyptian mediators last month.
Six living captives must be released on Saturday in exchange for 602 Palestinians from the Israeli prison, most of which were held without indictment or trial. Negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire should start in the coming days.
