Israel says Hamas has not handed over the body of hostage Shiri Bibas – saying they had instead received the remains of an “anonymous body without identification”.
Ms Bibas was kidnapped with her sons – four-year-old Ariel, and nine-month-old Kfir – from the Niz Or kibbutz during the Palestinian militant group’s incursion into Israel in October 2023.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has confirmed they received the bodies of Ariel and Kfir on Thursday.
However, they said the body that Hamas had claimed was their mother was not her and the group had therefore violated the ceasefire agreement.
In a statement, the IDF said: “During the identification process, it was found that the additional body received was not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other abductee. It is an anonymous body without identification.
“This is a very serious violation by the Hamas terrorist organisation, which is required by the agreement to return four dead abductees. We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all of our abductees.”
The IDF added: “We share the deep sorrow of the Bibas family at this difficult time and will continue to make every effort to return Shiri and all the kidnapped as soon as possible.”
The body of journalist and peace activist Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted, was also handed over on Thursday.
Hamas has said they were all killed in Israeli airstrikes near the start of the war. The group has never provided evidence to back this up, while Israel has not confirmed the claims.
Hamas handed over the remains as part of the Gaza ceasefire agreement which was reached with Israel last month.
The bodies were transferred in four black coffins in a carefully orchestrated public display as a crowd of Palestinians and dozens of armed Hamas militants watched.
Israelis lined the road in the rain near the Gaza border to pay their respects as the convoy carrying the coffins drove by.
In Tel Aviv, people gathered, some weeping, in a public square opposite Israel’s defence headquarters that has come to be known as Hostages Square.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to eliminate Hamas and said the four coffins meant “more than ever” that Israel had to ensure there was no repeat of the 7 October attack.
Mr Netanyahu said: “Our loved ones’ blood is shouting at us from the soil and is obliging us to settle the score with the despicable murderers, and we will.”
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Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said: “Agony. Pain. There are no words. Our hearts – the hearts of an entire nation – lie in tatters.”
United Nations human rights chief, Volker Turk, called the parading of the four bodies “cruel” and “inhumane” in a statement on Thursday.
He said: “Under international law, any handover of the remains of deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families.”
The Bibas family has become a powerful symbol of the 251 Israelis kidnapped on 7 October – not least because Kfir was the youngest taken.
The children’s father, Yarden Bibas, was released on 1 February as part of the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel.
Meanwhile, six living hostages, the final due to be freed under the first phase of the Gaza truce deal, will be released on Saturday, according to Hamas.
Israelis who survived being held prisoner in Gaza have been released in small groups since the first six-week phase began last month.
The deal has provided a vital pause in the fighting that’s devastated Gaza and left tens of thousands dead.
At least 1,200 people were killed in the attack that started the war.
Since then, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 48,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.