The woman’s body, who was suspected to be one of the four slain hostages believed to have been ruthlessly murdered by Hamas and given to Israel, was reportedly handed over by the terrorist group on Friday.
Hamas presented a coffin that supposedly contained the body of Shiri Bibas to the Red Cross. The coffin is expected to be transferred to Israeli soldiers and later sent to the National Forensic Institute for identification.
The development follows Israel’s demand for the return of Bibas’ body after discrepancies were found in a previous transfer on Thursday.
“We had been hoping and praying for months for the safe return of the Bibas children. Yesterday, our fears were realized,” stated IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. “Kfir and Ariel were brutally murdered by the terrorists. They were not shot, but killed using their hands. Subsequently, the perpetrators engaged in gruesome actions to hide their heinous deeds.”
In response to the findings, the Hostages and Missing Families forum said it was “shaken to the core by the horrifying findings.”
The Bibas family, from left: Yarden, Ariel, Shiri, and Kfir (Ofri Bibas Levy)
“This barbaric act is yet another undeniable testament to the unfathomable brutality of those who continue to hold our loved ones captive,” the group said in a statement. “The very same hands that slaughtered Ariel and Kfir are the ones keeping our fathers, mothers, sons and daughters in unimaginable conditions.”
“Today is a tragic day,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday. “It’s a day of boundless sorrow, of indescribable pain. Four-year-old Ariel Bibas, his baby brother one-year-old Kfir, and 84-year-old Oded Lifshitz were brutally murdered by Hamas savages.”
Kfir and Ariel Bibas, ages 4 and 10 months, were murdered by Hamas terrorists with their bare hands, Israel has said. (State of Israel / X)
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said that Hamas “continues to violate every basic moral value,” even after the death of the two children.
“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 added.
The young boys and their mother were abducted from their home by Hamas terrorists during the terror group’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack. Yarden Bibas, Ariel and Kfir’s father, tried to protect them and was abducted prior to the kidnapping of his wife and children, the IDF said.
Yarden returned as part of the agreement for the return of the hostages on Feb. 1. Netanyahu said that Hamas will pay “the full price” for not following through with returning Shiri Bibas’ body.
“God will save their blood, and we will take revenge, too,” he said.
Fox News’ Yonat Friling contributed to this report.
