PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES (AFP) — Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas’ community confirmed her death Saturday after new remains were returned from Gaza, as the seventh hostage-prisoner exchange under a fragile Gaza ceasefire was set to go ahead.
Bibas and her two young sons, whose bodies were returned by Hamas to Israel on Thursday, had become symbols of the ordeal suffered by Israeli hostages since the Gaza war began.
Hamas had said the mother’s remains were among those returned Thursday, but Israeli analysis concluded they were not in fact hers, sparking an outpouring of grief and anger.
“Kibbutz Nir Oz announces with deep pain and sorrow the murder of Shiri Bibas, of blessed memory, who was abducted from her home on October 7 and killed in captivity in Gaza,” her community said in a statement, adding “she will be laid to rest in the land of Israel alongside her two young sons.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross had earlier confirmed the transfer of more human remains to Israel “at the request of both parties” but did not say whose they were.
The Palestinian militant group admitted “the possibility of an error or mix-up of bodies,” which it attributed to Israeli bombing of the area.
Hamas also affirmed its “full commitment” to the ongoing ceasefire deal, which has so far seen 19 living Israeli hostages freed from Gaza in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails.
The group’s armed wing confirmed it would release six living Israelis Saturday in the seventh swap since the ceasefire began.
They are the last living hostages eligible for release under the truce deal’s first phase, which is due to expire in early March. Hamas has also promised to hand over four more bodies next week.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group said Friday that Israel would free 602 inmates on Saturday as part of the exchange.
A spokesperson for the non-government organization told Agence France-Presse that 445 were Gazans arrested after the war began, while 60 were serving long sentences, 50 were serving life sentences and 47 were re-arrested after being freed in a 2011 prisoner exchange.