After Hamas sends wrong body, Bibas family says priority is getting Shiri back, not revenge
Sister-in-law of Shiri Bibas also accuses Netanyahu of abandoning the family in captivity; families of slain hostages ask that their bodies lie in state at Knesset
The sister-in-law of Shiri Bibas said Friday that her family is not seeking revenge after Hamas sent Israel the wrong body as part of the hostage deal, saying that they only wanted her back.
“We are not seeking revenge now, we want Shiri,” Ofri Bibas said in a video statement. The statement was issued one day after forensic analysts determined that a body released from Gaza by Hamas did not belong to Bibas.
Hamas released four bodies on Thursday as part of the hostage-ceasefire deal in a grotesque ceremony. Two of the bodies were identified as Ariel and Kfir Bibas, Shiri’s sons, who Israel said were killed in captivity after being kidnapped on October 7, 2023, at ages 4 years and 8 months, respectively; the third body was identified as Oded Lifshitz; the fourth body, which was supposed to belong to Shiri per the agreement, was not identified as any known hostage.
Bibas said that the confirmation of Ariel and Kfir’s death over 500 days after their abduction “offered no comfort, only profound grief.”
“My sweet nephews were taken alive from their home and murdered by a cruel terrorist organization while in captivity. They didn’t deserve such a fate,” she said.
She also accused the government of abandoning the family and failing to live up to its responsibility to bring them back.
“Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were taken alive by a murderous terrorist organization, and it was Israel’s responsibility and obligation to bring them back alive. There is no forgiveness for abandoning them on October 7th, and no forgiveness for abandoning them in captivity,” she said.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we did not receive an apology from you in this painful moment. For Ariel and Kfir’s sake, and for Yarden’s sake, we are not seeking revenge right now. We are asking for Shiri,” she said.
צפו בסרטון שיצא לפני זמן קצר של עופרי ביבס, אחותו של ירדן. נשרף הלב, שוב ושוב. ומתוך הכאב עולה בבירור בקשת בני המשפחה:
"אנחנו לא מבקשים נקמה כעת. אנחנו מבקשים את שירי. אכזריותם רק מדגישה את הצורך המיידי להשיב אלינו את שירי ולהציל את חייהם של החטופים החיים ולהשיב לקבורה את כל… pic.twitter.com/IZzNlf36sx— Or-ly Barlev ???? אור-לי ברלב (@orlybarlev) February 21, 2025
Speaking of the terror group Hamas, she said that “their cruelty only stresses the immediate need to return Shiri to us, to save the lives of the living hostages and to bring the fallen back for burial.”
Bibas also pleaded to US President Donald Trump for assistance. “President Trump, I am asking you, to please help Israel and our families in completing this important mission.”
Bibas ended the video by addressing her slain nephews. “Luli and Fir Fir, sorry that I can’t cry over you now. We are waiting for mommy Shiri.”
After it was revealed that the body ostensibly belonging to Shiri Bibas was not hers, Hamas said it would probe the issue.
During the October 7 massacre, Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.
Images of a terrified Shiri holding her two sons while being surrounded by terrorists became a symbol of the October 7 atrocities. Shiri’s husband and the boys’ father, Yarden Bibas, was kidnapped separately and released earlier this month as part of the ceasefire deal.
Families call for hostage bodies to lie in state
Also Friday, the families of several hostages signed onto a letter to Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana requesting that the coffins of their loved ones be able to lie in state outside the Knesset after they return.
The letter, penned by Yesh Atid MK Meirav Cohen, said that those who “paid with their lives because the country could not protect them” are “worthy of a final honor” that would allow the public to come and pay their respects after their bodies are returned to Israel.
Those signed onto the letter include family members of Inbar Haiman, Alex Dancyg, Itzik Elgarat, Tamir Nimrodi, Elad Katzir, Idan Shtivi and others — some of whom have already been returned to Israel and some whose fate remains unknown.
Sixty-seven of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas has so far released 24 hostages — 14 Israeli civilians, five soldiers, and five Thai nationals — and the bodies of three Israeli captives during a ceasefire that began in January. The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that.
Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 40 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the body of an IDF soldier who was killed in 2014. The body of another IDF soldier, also killed in 2014, was recovered from Gaza in January.
The Times of Israel Community.