The IDF confirmed on Friday morning that the hostage remains released on Thursday belonged to Ariel and Kfir Bibas. However, the third body "was not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. It is an anonymous body without identification," the military stated.
"This is a very serious violation by the Hamas terrorist organization, which is required by the agreement to return four dead hostages. We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages," the military added.
The IDF said that forensic officials carried out several tests on the anonymous woman's body to ensure the result's accuracy, Army Radio reported, adding that the body was received in "a condition in which it could be clearly verified it does not belong to Shiri Bibas."
Ariel and Kfir Bibas were brutally murdered in November of 2023 by terrorists in captivity, forensic findings and assessments of professional officials found, as per the Israeli military.
The bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons were meant to be returned on Thursday morning according to an understanding between Hamas terrorists and Israeli authorities.
Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir were also among the 33 names listed to be released from Hamas captivity under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire-hostage deal, but it was only revealed on Tuesday that they were not alive.
Yarden Bibas, Shiri's husband and the boys' father was released by Hamas terrorists on February 1.
US hostage envoy reacts
In an interview to CNN, US Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Adam Boehler, referred to Hamas's decision to release the wrong body as “horrific” and a “clear violation” of the ceasefire.
“If I were them, I’d release everybody or they are going to face total annihilation,” said Boehler.
"I don't know what they thought when they put the body of someone else in the coffin, I don't know if they thought Israel wouldn't find that or not."
Asked whether Israel's forensic findings disproved the Hamas claim that the babies were killed by Israeli airstrike, Boehler said that Israel called both him and United States Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, before announcing the news, and confirmed that "forensic evidence definitively prove that those two kids were brutally murdered in November."
Israeli officials react
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said "Hamas's serious violation and its ongoing abuses cannot pass in silence. And neither can the news that they brutally murdered the little Ariel and Kfir in captivity."
"The only solution is the destruction of Hamas and this cannot wait. Every day that passes without us working towards the destruction of Hamas is interpreted as weakness and we may pay a heavy and painful price for this, as we did on October 7th, and like the price that was miraculously avoided in the bus bombing last night."
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon wrote "There are no words that can describe such an atrocity. Hamas not only murdered Ariel and Kfir Bibas in cold blood – a four-year-old boy and a ten-month-old baby – but continues to violate every basic moral value even after their death."
"Instead of returning Shiri, the mother of Kfir and Ariel, Hamas returned an unidentified body, as if it were a worthless shipment. This is a new low, an evil and cruelty with no parallel." He continued.
There are no words that can describe such an atrocity. Hamas not only murdered Ariel and Kfir Bibas in cold blood – a four-year-old boy and a ten-month-old baby – but continues to violate every basic moral value even after their death.Instead of returning Shiri, the mother of… pic.twitter.com/pK5pgD2Yr1
— Danny Danon דני דנון (@dannydanon) February 21, 2025
"The UN Secretary-General, the Security Council and the General Assembly cannot continue to remain silent in the face of Hamas's barbarity. The State of Israel demands a clear and unequivocal condemnation of this heinous crime, and a clear and an immediate demand for the return of Shiri to her family. History will remember well who stood by and remained silent while Hamas trampled on the most basic principles of humanity," he concluded.