'Unspeakable cynicism': Netanyahu slams Hamas for handing over Gazan body in place of Shiri Bibas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday condemned militant outfit Hamas for committing “unspeakable cynicism” after forensic authorities determined that the body Hamas claimed to be Shiri Bibas was not hers.

In a video statement, Netanyahu accused Hamas of cruelty, highlighting that while they had abducted Shiri Bibas, her husband Yarden, and their two young children, they failed to return Shiri alongside her children, instead placing the body of a Gazan woman in the coffin.

“The cruelty of the Hamas monsters knows no bounds,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.

“Not only did they kidnap the father, Yarden Bibas, the young mother, Shiri, and their two small babies. But in an unspeakably cynical manner, they did not return Shiri alongside her young children, the little angels, and they put the body of a Gazan woman in the coffin,” he added.

This comes after bodies of Shiri’s two children, Ariel (4) and Kfir (10 months), were confirmed as those of the Bibas boys, along with the remains of Oded Lifshitz, an 83-year-old elderly hostage.

Netanyahu expressed his sorrow over the deaths of these individuals, confirming that they were brutally murdered by Hamas in the early weeks of the war. He also made a solemn pledge, saying, “May God avenge their blood — and we too will avenge.”

Hamas had claimed that Shiri Bibas was killed early in the conflict, though Israel has not confirmed her death. Netanyahu also criticized Hamas for not returning Shiri, emphasizing that her children, who had become symbols of the hostage crisis, would not be reunited with their mother.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an Israeli advocacy group, expressed horror at the failure to return Shiri, despite the ceasefire agreement.

The elderly hostage, Oded Lifshitz, was a journalist and long-time advocate for Palestinian rights. The repatriation of the bodies was part of the ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which has led to the release of 19 Israeli hostages and more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners since it began on January 19.

"We are horrified and devastated by the news that their mother, Shiri, was not returned — despite the agreement and our desperate hopes," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.