Hamas says it will return bodies of four hostages including Bibas family

Hamas has stated it will hand over the remains of four hostages held by the group on Thursday, including the youngest two hostages held by the Palestinian militant organization. According to Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, the remains to be handed over include those of the Bibas family – Shiri and her young children Kfir and Ariel, who were only nine months and four years old, respectively, when they were abducted by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack.

Hamas claims the three died as a result of Israeli bombing, but Israel has not confirmed this. The children's father, Yarden, was released by Hamas earlier this month. Al-Hayya also said that Hamas will release six hostages still alive on Saturday, twice the number originally planned.

In exchange, Israel will release all women and individuals under the age of 19 arrested since last October and allow some rubble-clearing equipment to enter Gaza through the border with Egypt. Al-Hayya said in a statement that the group agreed "to hand over the bodies of four occupied prisoners on Thursday, February 20, including the body of the Bibas family."

Hamas claimed in November 2023 that they died in an Israeli airstrike but provided no evidence. The Israeli military has not confirmed the report. Israeli officials have only said that they are very concerned about their safety. An Israeli official told Reuters that the identities of the deceased hostages will be released only after identification in Israel.

The Bibas family said in a statement that they were aware of Hamas's statement. "In the past few hours, we have been in turmoil following the announcement by the Hamas spokesman of their intention to return Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir, may their memories be a blessing, as part of the phase of returning the bodies of the hostages this coming Thursday," the statement said. "We want to make it clear that while we have been made aware of these reports, we have not received any official confirmation regarding this matter." The statement also emphasized: "Until we receive clear confirmation, our journey is not over."

Hamas has released the names of two of the six Israelis to be released on Saturday, Avira Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who were detained after crossing into Gaza on their own in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The Israeli government said that both men suffered from mental health issues at the time. Some hostage families said that their loved ones were also on the list of those being released on the same day, namely 22-year-old Omer Shem Tov, 27-year-old Elia Cohen, and 23-year-old Omer Wenkert, who were taken from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, and 40-year-old Tal Shoham, who was kidnapped from Be'eri Kibbutz.

Under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages. In exchange, Israel agreed to release approximately 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. Negotiations on advancing to the second phase of the agreement – under which the remaining living hostages would be released and the war would permanently end – were scheduled to begin earlier this month but have not yet started. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that negotiations would begin "this week."

Sa'ar said that Israel "will not accept Hamas or any other terrorist organization continuing to exist in Gaza," but that Israel could extend the ceasefire if the discussions are productive. "If we see that there is constructive dialogue and that there is a possibility of reaching an agreement, then we will extend this time frame," Sa'ar said. There are currently 73 hostages being held in Gaza, including Israeli soldiers and civilians, both deceased and alive, as well as Thai and Nepalese nationals.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and kidnapping approximately 251 hostages. Israel subsequently launched a 15-month military offensive that, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, has killed 47,460 Palestinians and devastated the coastal enclave.