The remains of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas have been returned to Israel.
Shiri Bibas was supposed to be returned to Israel on Thursday alongside the remains of her deceased children as part of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, but the body Hamas claimed to be Bibas was found to be someone else.
Shiri, 32, and her sons, Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months, were abducted along with her husband, Yarden, during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Yarden was freed earlier this month, but his wife and children did not survive their captivity in Gaza.
Following the identification process, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that the Bibas children were "brutally murdered by terrorists while being held hostage in Gaza, no later than November 2023," ABC reported.
"The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys—they killed them with their bare hands," the IDF said. "Afterwards, they committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities."
Hamas has disavowed the claim, insisting the Bibas family died during an Israeli airstrike.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retribution for the killings and the return of an incorrect body, calling it a "heinous crime."
The Bibas family issued a statement on Saturday confirming the devastating news. "Last night, our Shiri was returned home," they wrote. "We dreaded this moment, but now she is at rest with her sons."
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