Israel Confirms Hamas Returned Hostage Shiri Bibas’ Remains

A day after a horrible ‘mixup’ in returning corpses of hostages by Hamas, Israel finally received the human remains of Shiri Bibas, and the same was confirmed by the deceased’s family, CNN reported citing hostage relatives’ forum.

Bibas’ remains had been expected to be among those of four hostages returned by Hamas on Thursday, alongside her sons, Kfir and Ariel, when they were taken captive.

However, while forensic tests done by Israeli authorities confirmed that the remains included those of the boys, the other remains were not those of their mother Shiri Bibas and nor did they match that of any other Israeli hostage, prompting outrage and condemnation.

“Last night, our Shiri was brought home. After the identification process at the Institute for Forensic Medicine, we received the news this morning that we had feared: our Shiri was murdered in captivity,” CNN quoted the forum as saying.

“She has returned home to her sons, her husband, her sister, and all her family to rest,” the statement added.

Shiri’s husband and the children’s father, Yarden Bibas, was released by Hamas earlier this month after 484 days of captivity.

Condolences poured in from all quarters of the Israeli society after Shiri Bibas’ remains were brought to Israel.

Opposition party leader Yair Lapid called the return of Bibas’ remains “a long and painful closing of a circle.” “I share in the pain and sorrow of the family and friends. We so hoped for a different ending,” CNN quoted Lapid.

Kibbutz Nir Oz, the community from where Bibas was taken hostage along with her husband and children in the Hamas-led attack of October 7, expressed its “deep sorrow” in a statement Saturday.

Earlier on Friday, the IDF had announced that the remains Hamas claimed were Shiri Bibas were not, in fact, her remains.

“This is a very serious violation by the Hamas terrorist organization, which is required by the agreement to return four dead hostages. We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages,” the military added.

After Hamas transferred the remains to the Red Cross in Gaza on Friday night, the IDF brought them to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for confirmatory testing.

The L Greenberg Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir confirmed that the remains transferred to Israel on Friday night belong to Shiri Bibas, following extensive testing, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The testing team was composed of a variety of specialists, including the DNA laboratory team and the institute’s director, Dr Chen Kugel.

Notably, the institute was also responsible for identifying the remains of Kfir and Ariel Bibas.

Jerusalem Post said that their bodies were identified using forensic analysis in an interdepartmental collaboration between the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and the Israel Police.

CNN noted that the convoy carrying the remains arrived in Tel Aviv for identification on Friday night and saw mourners lined the street outside, holding Israeli flags.

Hamas had earlier said that Shiri and her sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2023, but later said that her body may have earlier been mixed up with the body of another person killed in the airstrike, and assured to investigate.

Israel has rejected Hamas’ explanation of how the Bibas family members died. On Friday, Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed forensic evidence showed militants had murdered the two boys “with their bare hands.” He did not elaborate on the claim, which Hamas later dismissed as “sheer lies.”

As per the Jerusalem Post, Israel announced on Friday night that it would be handing the body of the woman Hamas had misidentified as Shiri back to Gaza’s health authorities. (ANI)