Hamas 'will be punished' for returning wrong body for hostage mother

Hamas has released the names of six living Israeli hostages who the militants plan to release Saturday (local time) under the terms of the ceasefire. The Hamas-linked Palestinian prisoners media office said more than 600 Palestinians were also to be freed from Israeli prisons in exchange.

The announcements are a sign the fragile ceasefire deal remains on track despite the tensions following Israeli allegations overnight that hostage Shiri Bibas’ body was not returned to Israel as promised by Hamas.

The militant group insists it is sticking to the truce deal and "has no interest in withholding any bodies in its possession". The militant group says the four dead hostages it handed over on Thursday had been killed by an Israeli airstrike in November 2023, and the bodies could have been misidentified because of bombardments in the area.

The tenuous ceasefire in Gaza began on January 19 and the first phase ends in early March. Palestinians in Gaza and the families of Israeli hostages are afraid the deal may not stretch into a planned second stage, under which Hamas is supposed to return the remaining hostages in exchange for Israel ending the war.

Here’s the latest:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Hamas would "pay the full price" for allegedly handing over the body of a Palestinian woman from Gaza instead of an Israeli hostage's remains.

Hamas militants turned over four bodies on Thursday, and says the deceased hostages were killed by an Israeli airstrike that also killed their guards.

The Israeli military said it had positively identified the remains of two young hostages, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, along with Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted during the Hamas attack on Israel that started the war on October 7, 2023.

However, Netanyahu reiterated the Israeli claim that the fourth coffin did not contain the boys' mother, Shiri Bibas, nor any other hostage.

"We will work with determination to bring Shiri home together with all our hostages — both living and dead — and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and malicious violation of the agreement," Netanyahu said.

"The sacred memory of Oded Lifshitz and Ariel and Kfir Bibas will be forever enshrined in the heart of the nation. May God avenge their blood. And so we will avenge," he added.

Hamas says it will "conduct a thorough review" of Israeli claims that a body it handed over Thursday as part of a ceasefire deal was not that of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas.

The group insisted it has adhered to all terms of the deal and "has no interest in withholding any bodies in its possession".

"We have demonstrated full compliance with the agreement in recent days and remain committed to all its terms," Hamas said.

Hamas suggested that a possible mix-up of remains may have occurred due to Israeli bombardment of the location where Bibas and her sons Kfir and Ariel were being held and where Palestinians were present. The militants have long maintained the mother and her children were killed in Israeli bombing.

"We reject Netanyahu’s threats, which serve only to manipulate Israeli public opinion," Hamas said, calling on mediators to ensure the continued implementation of the ceasefire. The group also called for the return of the unidentified remains, which Israel has said is that of a Palestinian woman.

Israel’s military spokesperson said Friday that militants in Gaza killed two young hostages "with their bare hands," without providing evidence for the claim, a day after the boys' remains were returned to Israel.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, in a live statement, alleged that forensic analysis of the Bibas boys’ remains showed that militants "did not shoot the boys," but "killed them with their bare hands," adding that militants had then "committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities".

Hagari also said the fourth set of remains released Thursday, Oded Lifshitz, was killed by his militant captors inside Gaza.

Hamas claims Lifshitz, the boys Kfir and Ariel, and their mother Shiri were killed in an Israeli airstrike. It too has not provided evidence to support this allegation.

The aunt of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, said that Netanyahu has not apologised yet to the family after the body of the boys' mother was not among those returned.

"For Ariel and Kfir’s sake, and for Yarden’s sake, we are not seeking revenge right now. We are asking for Shiri," said Ofri Bibas Levy, the sister of Yarden Bibas, the boys’ father, who was released alive during an earlier swap.

Hostage families are terrified that the deal may not stretch into the planned second stage, under which Hamas is supposed to return the remainder of the hostages in exchange for Israel ending the war.

Hamas has released the names of the six living hostages the militants plan to release on Saturday under the terms of the ceasefire. The Hamas-linked Palestinian prisoners media office said over 600 Palestinians are also to be freed from Israeli prisons.

Hamas said it would release Omer Wenkert, 23; Omer Shem Tov, 22; Avera Mengistu, 39; Hisham Al-Sayed, 36; Tal Shoham, 40, and Eliya Cohen, 27, on Saturday.

Two of the men, Mengistu and Al-Sayed, are civilians who are mentally ill and who have been held since long before the war, after entering Gaza on their own over a decade ago.

Israel confirmed receiving the list. It did not confirm the six names, which were confirmed earlier in the week by the Hostages and Missing Families forum, the group representing hostage families.

Of the Palestinian prisoners due to be released, 50 have been sentenced to life imprisonment and 60 were serving long prison sentences. Also due for release are 445 prisoners from Gaza, held by Israel since October 7, 2023.

Palestinian health officials said Friday that Israeli fire killed two 13-year-old Palestinians in separate episodes in the occupied West Bank, as Israel’s military expands operations there.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli fire killed a boy in the southern city of Hebron and a girl in the Jenin refugee camp.

It was not clear whether Israeli soldiers or Jewish settlers had shot the teenagers. The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the shootings.

The Jenin camp has been a focus of Israel’s current military operation in the West Bank, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was intensifying Friday after a series of bus explosions near Tel Aviv he deemed a militant attack.

Israel’s month-long military operation in the West Bank, which started right after the Gaza ceasefire began, has wreaked widespread damage, killed over 50 Palestinians, caused thousands to flee their homes and ripped up roads and infrastructure in refugee camps.

Since the outbreak of war Israeli fire has killed over 800 Palestinians in the West Bank, Palestinian health officials say. In that time, attacks on Israelis in the volatile territory have also increased.