IDF Says Body Returned By Hamas Was Not Shiri Bibas, Confirms The Bodies Of Sons Kfir and Ariel

The Israel Defense Forces stated that the remains handed over by Hamas on Thursday, which were claimed to be Shiri Bibas, were not her or any other hostage. However, the bodies of her two young children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, were confirmed.

“During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage,” the IDF said in a statement. “This is an anonymous, unidentified body.”

The IDF went on to call this revelation a “violation of utmost severity” by Hamas, which was obligated to return Shiri on Thursday.

“We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages,” the IDF added. “We extend our heartfelt condolences to the Bibas family during this incredibly difficult time and remain committed to doing everything possible to ensure Shiri and all the hostages are brought home at the earliest opportunity.”

The identification process was conducted by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in collaboration with the Israel Police. The Bibas family was notified of the institute’s findings.

IDF concluded from intelligence and from the forensic findings that Ariel and Kfir were brutally murdered in captivity in November 2023 at the ages of four years old and ten months old, respectively.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Dannon, accused Hamas of violating “every basic moral value.”

“Instead of returning Shiri, the mother of Kfir and Ariel, Hamas returned an unidentified body, as if it were a worthless shipment,” Dannon said. “This is a new low, an evil and cruelty with no parallel.”

Israel received the anonymous body along with the Bibas brothers and Oded Lifshitz Thursday after the terror group paraded them on stage in front of cheering crowds in a propaganda spectacle.

The coffins each had a picture of the hostages with a sticker that said “date of arrest October 7 2023.”

On the stage was a picture of the four fallen hostages with an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu depicted as a vampire with the text, “This War Criminal Netanyahu & His Nazi Army Killed Them with Missiles from Zionist Warplanes.” There was also a missile with a sign in English reading, “They were killed by USA bombs.”

The coffins were carried by four masked men, each wearing a headband symbolizing a different Palestinian terrorist organization including Hamas, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Palestinian Mujahideen Movement’s Mujahideen Brigades, and Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigade. Fatah is chaired by Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, which controls the Palestinian areas of Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank.

Hamas threatened to keep the bodies after the Red Cross initially refused to take part in the handover ceremony, according to Israel’s Channel 12. Red Cross representatives eventually gave in, and signed documents on stage to receive the bodies.

The coffins were then transported to the Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip where they underwent an evaluation by a bomb squad to ensure the terrorists did not booby trap them, as they had done to other bodies on October 7.

The IDF wrapped the coffins in Israeli flags and the Military Rabbinate chief, Brigadier-General Rabbi Eyal Krim, recited Psalm 83.

The Lifshitz family received final confirmation that Oded’s body had been identified only hours after he arrived for identification.

“503 agonizing days of uncertainty have come to an end,” the family said in a statement. “We had hoped and prayed so much for a different outcome. Now we can mourn the husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who has been missing from us since October 7. Our family’s healing process will begin now and will not end until the last hostage is returned.”

The news of the death of Ariel and Kfir has sparked international outrage and brought the total number of children from Israel who have died in the fallout of the October 7 attacks to 55.

Footage of Shiri’s terrified face while holding the two redheaded boys went viral after October 7, making the family a symbol of the horror terrorists inflicted on Israeli civilians during the attack.

In November 2023, Hamas forced Shiri’s husband, Yarden Bibas, to record a video announcing the deaths of his wife and kids. Yarden, who was released earlier this month, had reportedly clung to hope that his family is alive.