Israel says Bibas boys were among the dead bodies returned by Hamas – but not their mother

This undated photo provided by Hostages Family Forum shows Shiri Bibas, who was abducted and brought to Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. (Hostages Family Forum via AP)

Israel says it has identified two of the dead bodies returned by Hamas on Thursday as Ariel and Kfir Bibas – but tests show another body that was expected to be that of their mother Shiri is not hers – and does not match any other Israeli hostage.

The Israeli military also said forensic evidence and intelligence suggested the boys were murdered.

“This is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organization, which is obligated under the agreement to return four deceased hostages. We demand that Hamas return Shiri home along with all our hostages,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

Despite the development, the IDF said plans for the release of a further six hostages on Saturday were not expected to change.

CNN has reached out to Hamas for comment.

Earlier on Thursday, Hamas handed over four bodies to Israel – which were said to belong to the three Bibas family members and Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was kidnapped alongside his wife in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023.

At a press conference, the head of Israel’s National Center of Forensic Medicine Dr. Chen Kugel said experts had confirmed that one of the four bodies was Lifshitz’s but did not comment about the Bibas family.

Following the announcement by the IDF, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, called on the United Nations to condemn “Hamas’ barbarity” and make an “immediate demand for the return of Shiri to her family.”

“There are no words that can describe such an atrocity. Hamas not only murdered Ariel and Kfir Bibas in cold blood – a four-year-old boy and a 10-month-old baby – but continues to violate every basic moral value even after their death,” Danon said.

“Instead of returning Shiri, the mother of Kfir and Ariel, Hamas returned an unidentified body, as if it were a worthless shipment. This is a new low, an evil and cruelty with no parallel.”

The children’s father, Yarden Bibas, was released by Hamas earlier this month after 484 days of captivity. He was one of the 19 Israeli hostages freed alive under the January 2025 ceasefire deal.

The Bibas family, and Kfir in particular, have become one of the most recognizable victims of the October 7 terror attacks.

At just 9 months old when he was abducted, Kfir was the youngest hostage kidnapped into Gaza and the youngest to have been killed. A photo of him holding a pink elephant toy and looking directly at the camera with a toothless smile has been featured in numerous campaigns and protests around the world.

His brother Ariel, just 4 at the time of the attack, was often shown in a photo taken after he had a haircut, still wrapped in the hairdresser’s cape. Earlier photos of the family showed Ariel, a big fan of Batman, with locks of long red hair.

The picture was shown on the large screens at New York City’s Times Square, printed on t-shirts worn by protesters in London, Berlin and elsewhere, and brought to the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos by Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

A video of the Bibas family’s abduction became one of the symbols of the brutality of the October 7 terror attack. It showed a terrified Shiri clinging tightly to her children wrapped in a blanket, with Ariel still sucking his pacifier.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Article written by Tamar Michaelis and Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN