Escalating Tensions Between Israel and Hamas Over Hostage Remains
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned Hamas for not returning the body of hostage Shiri Bibas as previously agreed, labeling the act a “cruel and evil violation” of the ceasefire agreement. Netanyahu stated, “We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages—both living and dead—and ensure Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement.”
The controversy arose after Israeli specialists identified that one of the four bodies handed over by Hamas on Thursday was an unidentified woman, not Shiri Bibas. Her two sons, Kfir and Ariel, were among the bodies returned and have been identified. Netanyahu accused Hamas of acting “in an unspeakably cynical manner” by substituting the body of a Gazan woman for that of Shiri Bibas, who, along with her husband Yarden and their two sons, was kidnapped during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Hamas officials have suggested that Shiri Bibas’s remains may have been inadvertently mixed with other human remains due to Israeli airstrikes. Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, stated that her remains appear to have been mixed with others after being buried in the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike.
This incident has heightened tensions and cast doubt on the stability of the current ceasefire agreement, which was brokered with U.S. support and involved Qatari and Egyptian mediators. Despite the mix-up, Hamas has announced plans to release six additional hostages alive on Saturday. The individuals to be released include Israeli hostages Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Tal Shoham, Omer Wenkert, and civilians Hisham al-Sayed and Avera Mengisto, who entered Gaza a decade ago and have been held there since.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed concern over the manner in which Hamas has conducted hostage release operations. In a statement, the ICRC noted, “The ICRC does not participate in sorting, screening, or examining the deceased—this is the responsibility of the parties to the conflict,” while also expressing concern that the releases had not been conducted privately and in a dignified manner.
The failure to return Shiri Bibas’s body has sparked outrage in Israel. Ilana Caspi, a 75-year-old Israeli citizen, remarked, “It’s like they make a joke of us. We are so in grief and this is even more. It’s like you make a punch again, another one and another one. It’s really terrible.”
In response to the escalating tensions, Netanyahu has ordered the Israeli military to intensify operations in the occupied West Bank. This decision follows a series of explosions that targeted buses standing empty in depots near Tel Aviv. While no casualties were reported, these incidents have evoked memories of past suicide attacks on public transport that claimed hundreds of Israeli civilian lives during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s.
As the situation develops, the international community watches closely, concerned about the potential for renewed violence and the fragility of the current ceasefire.