Israeli military says body released by Hamas is not of a hostage

The Israeli military said on Friday that one of the bodies released by Hamas did not belong to any of the hostages held in Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating an already shaking ceasefire.

Two of the bodies were identified as infant Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother Ariel, while a third body that was supposed to be their mother, Shiri, was found not to match with any hostage and remained unidentified, the military said.

"This is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organization, which is obliged under the agreement to return four deceased hostages," the military said, in a statement, demanding the return of Shiri and all hostages.

The family of hostage Oded Lifshitz, said in a statement that his body had been formally identified.

There was no immediate reaction from Hamas.

Israelis hold flags as they wait for the arrival of the convoy with the bodies of deceased hostages, identified at the time by Palestinian militant groups as Oded Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas and her two children Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, on the day they were handed over under the terms of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel February 20, 2025.Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier vowed revenge on Hamas after the group released the remains of what it said were four hostages, including that of Kfir and Ariel, the youngest of those abducted during the October 7, 2023, attack.

Palestinian fighters handed over four black coffins as a crowd watched, creating a spectacle which was condemned by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The purported remains of the boys, their mother and Lifshitz, were handed over under the Gaza ceasefire agreement reached last month with the backing of the United States and the mediation of Qatar and Egypt.

Israelis pay last respects

Israelis lined the road in the rain near the Gaza border to pay their respects as the convoy carrying the coffins drove by.

"We stand here together, with a broken heart. The sky is also crying with us and we pray to see better days," said one woman, who gave her name only as Efrat.

A woman sits with children on the day the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages, identified at the time by Palestinian militant groups as Oded Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas and her two children Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, are handed over under the terms of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel February 20, 2025Reuters

In Tel Aviv, people gathered, some weeping, in a public square opposite Israel's defense headquarters that has come to be known as Hostages Square.

"Agony. Pain. There are no words. Our hearts — the hearts of an entire nation — lie in tatters," said President Isaac Herzog.

In a recorded address released after the remains of the hostages were handed over, Netanyahu vowed to eliminate Hamas.

"Our loved ones' blood is shouting at us from the soil and is obliging us to settle the score with the despicable murderers, and we will," he said.

Hamas said in November 2023 that the boys and their mother had been killed in an Israeli airstrike, but their deaths were not confirmed by Israeli authorities.

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since October 7, 2023 Hamas attack has killed over 48,000 people, created a massive humanitarian crisis, and widespread displacement. Hamas’ cross-border raid into Israeli territory claimed 1,200 lives. It also took more than 250 people captive.

Thursday's handover of bodies will be followed by the return of six living hostages on Saturday, in exchange for hundreds more Palestinians, expected to be women and minors detained by Israeli forces in Gaza during the war.

Negotiations for a second phase, expected to cover the return of around 60 remaining hostages, less than half of whom are believed to be alive, and a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip to allow an end to the war, are expected to begin in the coming days.