The body of a woman who was supposed to have been one of the four dead hostages who were killed by Hamas and transferred to Israel This week was positively identified on Saturday morning.
The Hogers and the headquarters of the hostages and missing families confirmed the identification of Shiri Bibas, which was brought back to Israel on Friday after Hamas initially handed over a Palestinian woman from Gaza.
On Friday, Hamas handed a coffin with the remains of Bibas on the Red Cross, which turned THe has the Israeli authorities. The coffin was then brought to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification.
“Our Shiri was returned last night,” the family said in a statement. “After the identification process at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, we received the news this morning that we had feared – our Shiri was killed in captivity and has now returned to her sons, husband, sister and all her family for half time.”
Shiri Bibas and her children, Shiri Bibas, Kfir Bibas, Ariel Bibas. Of the four bodies that returned by Hamas to Israel on Thursday, two were identified as the two young children. A third was initially supposed to be their mother, but it was not, said the Israeli defense groups. (Courtesy: Gostagage Families Forum)
“Despite our fears about their fate, we kept hope we could embrace them, and now we have pain and deeply sad,” it went on. “We have searched for certainty for 16 months, and now that it is here, it does not bring comfort, although we hope it marks the start of closure.”
The family said: “Shiri was a great mother of Ariel and Kfir, a loving partner of Yarden, a dedicated sister and aunt and a great friend.”
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that Hamas would “pay the full price” because he would hand over the body of a Palestinian woman from Gaza instead of the remains of Biba’s.
Hamas terrorists took the Bibas family on October 7, 2023. (Fox & Friends/Screengrab)
The Israeli army said earlier that it had positively identified the remains of the two sons of Bibas – Ariel and KFIR Bibas – together with Oded Lifshitz. Four bodies were sent back on Thursday, but the one who is expected to keep Shiri Bibas did not hold a hostage.
Hamas said that “it has no interest in containing bodies in his possession.” The terror group said that the dead hostages who handed it on Thursday had been killed by an Israeli air raid in November 2023 and that the bodies could have been misunderated because of bombing in the area.
After the return of Shiri Bibas, the family calls for the return of the remaining hostages in Gaza. Six will be released on Saturday.
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“In this difficult hour we continue to demand and ask for the immediate return of the remaining hostages who are still in captivity. There is no more important goal. There can be no rehabilitation without them,” said the Bibas family.
The Associated Press has contributed to this report.
