In a flagrant display of callousness, the terrorist organisation Hamas held an exhibition ceremony of the coffins carrying the remains of four Israeli hostages in central Gaza on 20th February. The bodies were said to be of Shiri Bibas, her two sons Ariela Bibas and Kfir Bibas and a veteran peace activist Oded Lifshitz who were taken hostage during the ghastly attacks carried out by Hamas on Israel on 7th October, 2023. The hostages were 32 years old, 4 years old, 9 months old and 83 years old respectively at the time they were captured. Yarden Bibas, father of Ariel Bibas and Kfir Bibas, was released by Hamas on 1st February.
Four black coffins were placed on a podium for display with loud music blaring in the background. The podium had a background poster showing the pictures of the dead hostages and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The poster read “The war criminal Netanyahu and his Nazi Army killed them missiles from Zionist warplanes”. The podium was surrounded by masked men carrying lethal weapons. A huge mass of people had also gathered to witness the ceremony. This is the first time that Hamas has released the remains of dead hostages.
The caskets of Oded Lifshitz, Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas (5), and Kfir Bibas (1) have been paraded across a stage with Hamas terrorists to cheering Gazan “civilians” surrounded by terrorist propaganda.
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) February 20, 2025
Hamas is openly and publicly celebrating that they kidnapped and murdered an… pic.twitter.com/OVL4UGnZxD
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reportedly expressed dissatisfaction over the handling of the bodies of the hostages by Hamas. Red Cross, which received the bodies of the hostages from Hamas, expressed concern that the release was not done privately and in a dignified manner.
Israel says the body returned was not of an Israeli hostage
Israel accused the terrorist organisation Hamas of breaching the ceasefire deal after finding that the body returned by Hamas on Thursday was not that of Shiri Bibas. In a statement posted on X on Friday (21st February), the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that it was revealed during the identification of the four bodies that the body of Shiri Bibas was not among them.
“During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received was not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body. This is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organisation, which is obligated under the agreement to return four deceased hostages. We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages, “the IDF wrote.
𝟗-𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡-𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐊𝐟𝐢𝐫 𝐁𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝟒-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝟐 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝:
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 20, 2025
Following the completion of the identification process by the…
The IDF alleged that the forensic assessment of the bodies revealed that the two kids were brutally murdered in November 2023. “According to the assessment of professional officials, based on the intelligence available to us and forensic findings from the identification process, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023,” the IDF said.
Hamas claims the Bibas family was killed by Israeli airstrikes
Responding to the IDF’s claim regarding the unidentified body, Hamas said that it would examine the allegations seriously. A Hamas official named Ismail al-Thawabteh reportedly claimed that Shiri’s body “turned into pieces after apparently being mixed with other bodies under the rubble”. Hamas claimed that Shiri Bibas and her two kids were killed in an Israeli airstrike. “We also point out the possibility of an error or overlap regarding the bodies, which may have resulted from the occupation targeting and bombing the place where the family was with other Palestinians,” a Hamas statement reportedly published on Telegram said. The terrorist organisation demanded Israel to return the unidentified body claiming it to be of a Gazan woman.
Under the ceasefire deal signed between Israel and Hamas on 15th January 2025, the terrorist organisation had agreed to release 33 hostages in exchange for 1,900 prisoners within the first six weeks of the ceasefire. Israel was expecting that 8 bodies would be handed over. So far, twenty-eight hostages and over 1000 prisoners have been exchanged.
On October 7, 2023, around 1200 people were reportedly killed in the attack carried out by Hamas on Israel. Around 251 people were taken hostage in Gaza. Sixty-six hostages are reportedly still being held in Gaza.
