CNN
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Israeli authorities say they are preparing to receive the remains of a body said to be that of hostage Shiri Bibas.
A coffin is currently in the hands of the Red Cross and on its way to Israel, a spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office confirmed on Friday.
A spokesperson for the Israeli police said they are preparing to escort the coffin to the Abu Kabir Forensics Center.
Hamas-run Al-Aqsa news reported on Friday that Hamas had handed over what it described as Bibas’ body to the Red Cross, citing Hamas leader Mahmoud Mardawi.
Bibas had previously been expected to be among the four hostage bodies returned by Hamas on Thursday, alongside her sons Kfir and Ariel and another captive Oded Lifshitz.
However, while forensic tests by Israeli authorities confirmed that the remains included those of the two boys and Lifshitz, the fourth body was not that of Shiri Bibas – and nor did it match that of any other Israeli hostage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said later that the body that was said to be Shiri’s was instead that of an unidentified “Gazan woman,” and described the failure to return her body as “an unimaginable cynical move” by Hamas.
Hamas, which claims Shiri and the two boys were killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2023, said later that her body may have been mixed up with the body of another person killed in the airstrike and vowed to investigate.
Israel has rejected Hamas’ explanation of how the Bibas family members died. On Friday, the Israeli military’s spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed forensic evidence showed terrorists had murdered the two boys “with their bare hands.” He did not elaborate on the claim, which Hamas later dismissed as “sheer lies.”
On Friday, the Israeli Ministry of Health said that doctors and laboratories with the National Center for Forensic Medicine were now preparing to identify the latest body with “speed and sensitivity.”
It urged the public to avoid spreading rumors and rely only on official sources, emphasizing the need to respect the family’s privacy during this “sensitive time.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.