Shock and outrage after release of hostage remains shows body of Shiri Bibas not released, 3 others murdered in captivity

There was an outpouring of outrage following the cruel release ceremony on Thursday, in which Hamas paraded the coffins of Israeli hostages on a stage decorated with fake bombs and Hamas propaganda, including a disturbing mural depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire drinking the blood of the Israeli hostages.

That outrage intensified after findings revealed that the hostages had been murdered in captivity, and not killed in an Israeli airstrike, as Hamas had claimed. 

The autopsy of the bodies also showed that the body in the coffin listed as Shiri Bibas, wife of released hostage Yarden Bibas, and mother of the two murdered boys Ariel and Kfir Bibas, was not Shiri, and in fact, did not match any of the Israeli hostages taken. 

Sources who dealt with the identification of the bodies told Hebrew media that intelligence and forensic findings indicated that the terrorists murdered Ariel and Kfir in captivity in early November 2023, about a month after they were kidnapped. 

The IDF released a statement saying it had "forensic and intelligence evidence that they were brutally murdered," thus contradicting the Hamas claim that Kfir and Ariel Bibas were killed in an air force attack.” 

Israeli public broadcaster, Kan 11, also ran a report stating that Hamas had placed more propaganda material inside the coffins. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a message to 𝕏, following the autopsy report that the body of Shiri was not returned, but that of another woman. 

“The State of Israel bows its head to two small children, tender babies, brothers - Ariel and Kfir Bibas, may their memory be blessed, and to Oded Lipshitz, may his memory be blessed, one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz,” Netanyahu wrote. “All three were murdered with terrible cruelty in Hamas captivity in the first weeks of the war.” 

“The cruelty of the Hamas monsters knows no bounds,” he continued. “Not only did they kidnap the father, Yarden Bibas, the young mother, Shiri, and their two small babies. In an unspeakably cynical manner, they did not return Shiri beside her little children, the little angels, but they put the body of a Gazan woman in a coffin.” 

Netanyahu promised that Israel would “work resolutely to bring Shiri home together with all our abductees - both living and dead – and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement.”

The prime minister ended by saying, “May God avenge their blood. And we will also avenge them.” 

German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert posted a message after the announcement, calling Hamas “merciless terrorists” and “cruel liars.” 

The unbearable is confirmed: Ariel and Kfir Bibas, two little German citizens, taken by merciless terrorists and killed in captivity. Let‘s remember them like this: radiant young lives full of promise. What happened to Shiri? On top of everything else Hamas are cruel liars. pic.twitter.com/461gPerFSE

— Steffen Seibert (@GerAmbTLV) February 21, 2025

UN Sec.-Gen. António Guterres released a rare statement condemning Hamas by name, following the release of the hostage remains. 

“I condemn the parading of bodies and displaying of the coffins of the deceased Israeli hostages by Hamas on Thursday,” Guterres said. “Under international law, any handover of the remains of the deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families.”

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon had demanded a condemnation of the public display and the failure to release the body of Shiri. 

“The UN Secretary-General, the Security Council and the General Assembly cannot continue to remain silent in the face of Hamas's barbarity. The State of Israel demands a clear and unequivocal condemnation of this heinous crime, and a clear and an immediate demand for the return of Shiri to her family. History will remember well who stood by and remained silent while Hamas trampled on the most basic principles of humanity,” Danon wrote in a statement on 𝕏. 

Meanwhile, Argentina's president, Javier Milei, declared two days of national mourning for Ariel and Kfir Bibas, both of whom held dual Israeli-Argentinian citizenship. 

“The Office of the President expresses its strongest condemnation of the terrorist group Hamas after the confirmation of the murder of the children of the Israeli-Argentine Bibas family,” Milei’s office announced.

“The President of the Nation will decree National Mourning for 2 days in memory of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and expresses on behalf of the Argentine people his condolences to the family, especially to Yarden Bibas, father of the children, who after suffering the torment of being kidnapped for 484 days today faces his worst nightmare.” 

Milei also called for the immediate release of the remaining hostages. 

Adam Boehler, who serves as the United States envoy for hostages, called the release of an unidentified body in place of Shiri “horrific,” and warned that the group will face consequences. 

“If I were them, I’d release everybody or they are going to face total annihilation,” Boehler told CNN on Thursday. 

UN Human Rights chief, Austrian Volker Turk, also slammed the “degrading treatment of the hostage remains. 

“Under international law, any handover of the remains of the deceased must comply with the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, ensuring respect for the dignity of the deceased and their families,” Turk said in a statement. 

The horrific display of the hostage coffins has even drawn condemnation from the Arab world. Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti, Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, also condemned the show by Hamas, according to a JFeed news report. 

“What we saw today in Gaza is a disgrace to Islam, an act of blasphemy against Allah, and a sin that does not represent the followers of the Prophet, peace be upon him, or the honorable religion of Islam,” Al-Sheikh said in a statement. 

U.S. Congresswoman Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), President Trump’s pick for America’s Ambassador to the UN, said the display proved Israel’s war is one of good versus evil.

“As we learn more about the tragic fates and devastating loss of life of these innocent victims, we are reminded that this must not be Israel’s fight alone but a fight between good and evil, civilization and barbarity,” Stefanik wrote on 𝕏. “America stands steadfast in support of Israel and the Jewish people. And we will not rest until every hostage is brought home.” 

Former Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said the cruelty of Hamas showed the need for implementing Trump's Gaza proposal.

"Even in Nazi Germany, there were Germans who saved Jews," Erdan wrote on 𝕏. "Not a single Gazan saved a single hostage."

"Many, many 'innocent' Gazans took part in the kidnapping & murder and many more came out today and on October 7th to celebrate the return of Jewish babies in coffins. Hamas must be eradicated. Fully," Erdan continued. "Gaza must be deNazified and demilitarized. President Donald Trump's vision must be realized."