Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge on Friday after Hamas failed to return the body of Shiri Bibas together with her two sons, Ariel and Kfir, in violation of the cease-fire agreement’s six-week first phase.
Hamas returned the remains of three dead hostages to Israel on Thursday: Oded Lifshitz, 83; Ariel, 4; Kfir, 9 months old; and a fourth body that was believed to be Shiri, 32. While three of the bodies were positively identified, Israeli forensics specialists determined the fourth body belonged to a Palestinian woman.
The location of the mother’s body remains unknown.
"We will work with determination to bring Shiri home together with all our hostages — both living and dead — and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and malicious violation of the agreement," Netanyahu said. "The sacred memory of Oded Lifshitz and Ariel and Kfir Bibas will be forever enshrined in the heart of the nation. May God avenge their blood. And so we will avenge."
Hamas said it will conduct an investigation into the missing body. The Palestinian terror group suggested there may have been a mix-up of bodies found in the rubble of an Israeli airstrike, which it claims killed Shiri and her two toddlers in 2023. Israel, however, concluded that the three hostages were killed by their captors.
Despite the surprise development, Hamas noted its previous full compliance with the cease-fire terms and maintains it is committed to the agreement.
"We reject Netanyahu's threats, which serve only to manipulate Israeli public opinion," Hamas said. The group asked Israel to return the unidentified Palestinian woman.
On Thursday, Hamas terrorists created a deranged public spectacle to mark the release of the four bodies in the first transfer of dead hostages since the cease-fire deal went into effect last month.
The transfer occurred in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, where four coffins were handed over to the Red Cross as Palestinians cheered. Hamas set up a stage with a backdrop calling Netanyahu a war criminal and accusing the Israeli military of killing the Bibas family. The propaganda depicted Netanyahu as a vampire looming over the four dead hostages.
The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security service later retrieved the bodies and discovered that the coffins were locked without a key to open them. The coffins were searched for explosives, according to the Times of Israel. IDF soldiers saluted the deceased hostages with Israeli flags draped over their new coffins upon their return to Israel.
The Bibas family were feared dead ever since Hamas claimed as much in the early days of its war with Israel. The husband and father, Yarden Bibas, survived in Hamas custody and was eventually released on February 1. Yarden, 35, was held in a different region of Gaza than his family.
Lifshitz was slain by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad more than a year ago, according to Israeli officials. His then-85-year-old wife, Yocheved, was released over two weeks after Hamas massacred some 1,200 Israeli citizens and kidnapped about 250 people on October 7, 2023.
The Bibas family and Lifshitz couple were taken from their homes in kibbutz Nir Oz that day.
The next transfer is set to occur on Saturday when Hamas will release an additional six hostages, all of whom are believed to be alive. They are the last living hostages set to be freed under the cease-fire deal's first phase, which lasts six weeks. The agreement began January 19 and will end March 2. Hamas is expected to release four more bodies next week.
After the next two hostage transfers, an estimated 60 hostages will remain in Hamas custody until the second phase starts. About half are presumed dead.
Netanyahu and Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously warned Hamas that Israel will open the “gates of hell” if the terror group fails to return all remaining hostages under the cease-fire deal. With the full backing of the Trump administration, Israel is prepared to resume fighting if necessary.
Netanyahu promised to bring to justice the terrorists who murdered the four hostages.
"They do not deserve to walk this earth. Nothing will stop me. Nothing," he said in a video released Friday. "May your memories forever be a blessing and a reminder to all of us that we must fight this evil and eradicate it from the face of this earth."
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