Israel announced that Hamas had violated a ceasefire after forensic tests revealed that the fourth body released on Thursday morning was not that of an Israeli hostage, but rather an “anonymous, unidentified body”.
Hamas was expected to hand over the remains of four Israeli hostages, including two children, in a grim exchange that initially indicated progress for the fragile ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli military swiftly confirmed that one of the bodies belonged to peace activist Oded Lifschitz, who was 83 years old when he was taken hostage.
However, early on Friday morning, the military announced that while two of the other coffins contained the remains of two brothers — Kfir, an infant, and Ariel, 4 years old at the time of their kidnapping — the final body did not belong to their mother, Shiri Bibas, who was 32 at the time.
“This is a serious violation by the Hamas terrorist organization, which is bound by the agreement to return the four deceased hostages,” said the Israel Defense Forces. “We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross transported the four coffins early in the morning from Gaza. The Bibas family, in particular, had requested that the media refrain from drawing conclusions about the fate of their loved ones until the military completed its forensic tests.
The revelation that Hamas may have substituted the remains of a hostage with an unknown body is likely to strain the fragile ceasefire.
As the bodies underwent identification, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog asked for forgiveness from the families and the deceased.
“I bow my head and ask for forgiveness,” he said. “Forgiveness for not protecting you on that terrible day. Forgiveness for not bringing you home safely.”
As stipulated by the ceasefire agreement, Israel is expected to release hundreds more Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas has pledged to release six living hostages ahead of schedule on Saturday in an effort to bolster negotiations aimed at turning the temporary ceasefire into a lasting truce. Dozens of hostages, both alive and deceased, remain in captivity in Gaza.
In Israel, the capture of the Bibas family — the children’s father was released alive in February in the first phase of the exchanges — has become a symbol of Hamas’s cruelty in the October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the Gaza war.
They also represent the shortcomings of the Israeli military on that day, as the army failed to reach the Nir Oz kibbutz until long after Hamas fighters had escaped back into Gaza with 80 hostages, having killed dozens in the remote village.
In a propaganda video released by Hamas, Shiri was seen carrying the children in her arms as armed fighters took them. Images of the smiling, red-haired children have become widespread on Israeli posters demanding the release of hostages.
The circumstances surrounding the Bibas family’s deaths remain unclear. Hamas claims they were killed in an Israeli airstrike, but has not provided evidence.
The militant group reiterated this claim on Thursday, handing over the bodies to the Red Cross under a sign that blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “missiles from Zionist warplanes” for their deaths.
The IDF had not addressed their case until Friday when it stated that the two children and Lifschitz “were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity.”
Lifschitz and his wife, Yocheved, were also taken from their homes near the Bibas family. Yocheved was released 16 days into the war.
According to interviews in Israeli media, a few families have been informed that their loved ones may have been unintentionally killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza.
Officials in Gaza estimate that around 50,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the Israeli assault, which has devastated most of the besieged enclave. Approximately 1,200 people were killed in Israel during Hamas’s cross-border raid, and about 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli officials.
Thursday’s release marked the first of deceased hostages and occurred in the fifth week of a six-week ceasefire agreed upon last month. Israel had released 985 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 19 living Israeli hostages, as reported by the Red Cross.
Most of the Palestinians were detained in Israel without trial, with some serving life sentences after being convicted in military prisons for the killing of Israelis.
Following strict control over aid entry into Gaza during the 15 months of war, Israel’s military has allowed thousands of trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza since the ceasefire began, including some heavy machinery and mobile homes starting this week.
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas to secure a lasting truce have commenced in Cairo, mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the US. However, reaching an agreement would require Israel to withdraw its army from Gaza, and for Hamas to release the remaining 60 or so hostages, many of whom are feared dead.
Netanyahu’s ruling coalition relies on the support of a far-right political party that vehemently opposes the ceasefire and has vowed to resume the assault on Hamas.
The militant group seemed to make threats against the living hostages during Thursday’s handover, displaying a sign that read: “The Return of War = The Return of Your Prisoners in Coffins.”
Hamas is known to have executed at least six prisoners last year after suspecting an Israeli rescue operation in the tunnels where they were held.
At that time, the IDF stated that there was no ongoing operation and that they had come across the recently killed hostages during a routine patrol.
