Family of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas says new returned body is hers

The family of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas says a body handed over by Hamas on Friday is hers.

"Our Shiri was murdered in captivity and has now returned home," the family said in a statement. Israel's forensic officials who have been examining the body are yet to confirm the identification.

Remains handed over by Hamas on Thursday which it said were those of Shiri Bibas turned out to be an unidentified woman, Israel said.

It comes as six living hostages are handed over by Hamas on Saturday as part of a ceasefire deal. More than 600 Palestinian prisoners will be freed by Israel in exchange.

The Bibas family said: "For 16 months, we sought certainty, and now that we have it, there is no comfort in it, but we hope for the beginning of a closure."

Hamas previously said the mother and her two children were killed in an Israeli air strike.

Earlier, a senior Hamas official confirmed to the BBC that the handover of the new body from Hamas to the Red Cross had taken place on Friday evening.

Israel had accused Hamas of breaking the terms of the ceasefire deal after forensic testing showed the remains handed over on Thursday were not that of Shiri Bibas.

The bodies of her sons, Ariel and Kfir, were returned to Israel, as was that of another hostage, Oded Lifschitz.

Hamas spokesman Ismail al-Thawabta said in a post on X on Friday that Shiri's remains seemed to have been mixed up with other bodies under rubble after the air strike.

Israel has disputed the claim that Ariel and Kfir Bibas were killed in an airstrike, with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari telling a press conference "forensic findings", which have not been seen by the BBC, suggested the boys had been killed "deliberately".

He said evidence had been shared with "partners around the world so they can verify it".

Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were aged 32, four and nine months respectively when they were kidnapped during the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023.

They were taken hostage along with the children's father, Yarden Bibas, 34, who was released alive by Hamas on 1 February.

Under the first phase of a ceasefire deal, which began on 19 January and lasts for 42 days, Hamas agreed to hand over 33 hostages in return for Israel freeing 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.

On Saturday, the armed group released Eliya Cohen, 27, Omer Shem Tov, 22, Tal Shohan, 40, and 23-year-old Omer Wenkert - all of whom were taken during the 7 October attacks.

Ethiopian-Israeli Avera Mengitsu, who was captured by Hamas in 2014, was also released. Hisham al-Sayed, a Bedouin Arab-Israeli held in Gaza since 2015, will be handed over separately. Israel is due to free 602 Palestinian prisoners.

In subsequent stages of the agreement, Hamas will release the remaining living hostages from Gaza and return the bodies of dead hostages. Israel has pledged to release more Palestinian prisoners.

In the 7 October attacks, about 1,200 people - mostly civilians - were killed and 251 others taken back to Gaza as hostages.

In response, Israel launched a massive military campaign against Hamas which has killed at least 48,319 Palestinians - mainly civilians - according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.