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Identification of Shiri Bibas Marks a Tragic Development in Hostage Crisis
The identification of a woman presumed to be among four dead hostages recently returned by Hamas to Israel was confirmed on Saturday morning. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters announced that Shiri Bibas was positively identified after her remains were transferred back to Israel on Friday.
Initially, Hamas had handed over a Palestinian woman’s body to Israeli authorities on Thursday, creating confusion about the identity of the remains. The following day, a coffin containing Bibas’ remains was delivered to the Red Cross, which facilitated the handover to Israeli officials. Subsequently, the coffin was sent to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification.
In a poignant statement, Bibas’ family expressed their grief: “Last night, our Shiri was returned home. Following the identification process at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, we received this morning the news we had dreaded – our Shiri was murdered in captivity and has now returned home to her sons, husband, sister, and all her family for rest.” This heart-wrenching news comes after 16 months of uncertainty regarding her fate.
Shiri Bibas was the mother of two young boys, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, all of whom were taken by Hamas during the attack on October 7, 2023. The Israeli Defense Forces had previously confirmed the identification of her sons’ remains, and while four bodies were returned, it turned out that one expected to contain Bibas’ remains did not.)
The family’s statement continued, “Despite our fears about their fate, we continued to hope that we would get to embrace them, and now we are in pain and heartbroken. For 16 months we sought certainty, and now that it’s here, it brings no comfort, though we hope it marks the beginning of closure.” They described Shiri as a dedicated mother, loving partner, and cherished friend.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to the events, asserting that Hamas would “pay the full price” for what he characterized as an egregious act of deception—the earlier handover of a Palestinian body instead of that of Bibas.
According to the Israeli military, the remains of Bibas’ two sons, along with another hostage, Oded Lifshitz, had been identified, but the body expected to be Bibas’ was misidentified. Hamas stated that they have “no interest in withholding any bodies” and claimed that the returned hostages were killed during an Israeli airstrike in November 2023, suggesting the misidentification was caused by the ongoing conflict.
Following the return of Shiri Bibas’ remains, her family is now advocating for the release of other hostages still held in Gaza. On that day, six additional hostages were set to be released.
The Bibas family emphasized the urgency of their situation, stating, “In this difficult hour, we continue to demand and call for the immediate return of the remaining hostages still in captivity. There is no more important goal. There can be no rehabilitation without them.” Their ongoing struggle highlights the broader humanitarian implications of the hostage crisis amid the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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