The family of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas says Hamas finally released her body overnight on Friday after the mother of two was murdered while held captive in Gaza, reports the Times of Israel. This comes after Hamas promised to hand over her remains on Thursday, then supplied the body of an unidentified Palestinian woman. Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel, 4, and baby Kfir, nine months, were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed in November 2023.
"Today, after 16 unbearable months, this painful circle has finally been closed for the family and in the coming days she will return, together with her two small sons, to eternal rest in the soil of Israel," said a Nir Oz statement. After identifying the body, Israeli officials revealed that Bibas was "brutally" murdered along with her two boys. Following Nir Oz's announcement, the Bibas family released a statement saying it had hoped that Bibas and her sons would return alive and had "requested certainty [about their fate] for 16 months."
Hamas had claimed that there had been a mix-up with the bodies during an Israeli airstrike, but the military said evidence clearly shows that Kfir and Ariel were murdered "in cold blood" by their captors. "The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys—they killed them with their bare hands. Afterward, they committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities," said IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.
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The AP reports the exchange came as Hamas released the sixth and final hostage it said it would release this weekend. Five of the hostages were released earlier Saturday in staged ceremonies that both Israel and the Red Cross have decried. The men included three kidnapped while attending the Nova music festival, and another captured while visiting family in southern Israel. The other two men have been held by Hamas for about a decade after entering Gaza on their own. Although not immediately identified, the last hostage released is believed to be Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, a Bedouin Israeli with a history of mental illness. To date, 25 Israeli hostages have been released during the first stage of the fragile ceasefire deal.
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