Hamas said on Friday it was investigating a possible error in identifying human remains handed to Israel under a ceasefire deal as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened retaliation for failing to release the body of hostage Shiri Bibas. Hamas was due to hand over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and…

The Bibas family have become global symbols of the plight of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

“We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages,” the Israeli military said.

In a statement on February 21, Hamas said it would “conduct a thorough review” of the information regarding the body. It suggested a possible mix-up of remains might have occurred due to Israeli bombing of the area where the Israeli hostages were being held because other Palestinians were also present.

Hamas has said Shiri Bibas’ remains were likely “mistakenly mixed” with those of others buried under rubble in Gaza.

Israel's Bibas family accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 21 of failing to protect their loved ones during Hamas's 2023 attack and of failing to bring them home.

GAZA CITY: A Hamas official told AFP on Friday (Feb 21) that it was likely the body of captive Shiri Bibas had been "mistakenly mixed" with others who were killed and buried under the rubble in Gaza. "It is likely that Mrs Bibas' body was mistakenly mixed with others found under the rubbl

Speaking to CNN, Boehler condemned Hamas’ decision to release the wrong body, calling it “horrific” and a “clear violation” of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. 

The Palestinian armed group initially said it had handed over the body of Shiri Bibas along with her two young children and another man. Israel said forensic testing found the remains were not hers.

“All the civilian captives were alive at that time,” said Taher Al-Nunu

The IDF said that one of the four hostage corpses handed over by Hamas as part of the ceasefire deal was not, in fact, Shiri Bibas.

After 16 months of uncertainty, Hamas returned the bodies of four-year-old Ariel and nine-month-old Kfir Bibas, claiming they were killed in an Israeli airstrike.