Hamas said Friday that the body of a woman who Hamas officials believe belongs to Israeli mother Shiri Bibas has been handed over to the Red Cross, and on October 7, 2023, captured along with her two young sons, the attack became an attack. symbolizes the pain of the country.
Ms. Bibas’s body was initially believed to have to be repatriated to Israel on Thursday, and the remains of her two children were part of the exchange for negotiations for Palestinian prisoners. Through DNA testing, Israeli officials determined that the body was the body of another person, not Ms. Bibass.
The ICRC did not immediately comment on whether it played a role in the search of remains on Friday. The Israeli military said news reports on repatriation were under review.
Mousa Abu Marzouk, head of Hamas’ Office of Foreign Relations, said in a text message that the body returned on Friday was believed to be the body of Ms. Bibas. Another Hamas official who requested anonymous discussion of the sensitive arrangements confirmed the handover, saying that Hamas understood this time that they had handed over the right bodies this time.
Mahmoud Mardawi, a third official in Hamas, told Alaby TV that Hamas handed over Ms. Bibas’s body.
It is not clear that Hamas handed over the correct body on Friday.
Friday’s statement came less than 24 hours after Hamas provided Israel with the wrong remains, the latest development in a series of crises that became the first phase of a ceasefire with Hamas. So far, 19 Israeli hostages have been traded as hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Despite both sides condemnation, the ceasefire lasted for a month. Hamas’s rapid search and return to Ms. Bibas’s body shows that it does not want to bear the responsibility for endangering the agreement before Saturday’s next transfer.
Hamas said Thursday it had handed over the remains of four hostages: Ms. Bibas, who was 32 years old at the time of her arrest. Her two children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, then 9 months old. Oded Lifshitz, 83. Handover was conducted in front of the crowd of Khan Younis, and each coffin had a photo of the hostage.
Israeli officials brought the body to the Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv, where the identities of Ariel, Kefir and Mr. Livhiz were confirmed.
But Israel said earlier Friday that one of the bodies handed over to Hamas was not Ms. Bibas’s body. The Israeli military said the discovery was “a violation of the most serious severity.” In a statement, Hamas acknowledged the possibility of errors or “corpse mixing”.
The first phase of the ceasefire deal will expire in less than two weeks, and Israel and Hamas have not yet made any provisions to extend the agreement to the next phase.
