Israel says it knew Bibas family was dead despite claiming they might be alive
The Israeli military acknowledged on Friday it knew the Bibas family was dead in captivity in Gaza despite previously insisting they might be alive.
Hamas said in November 2023 that Shiri Bibas, 32, and her two children, Ariel, aged four, and nine-month-old Kfir, were killed in an Israeli air strike.
However, the Israeli military continued to demand their release alive.
Military spokesperson Daniel Hagari on Friday confirmed the death of the two babies “no later than November 2023” following the return of their bodies by Hamas as part of the ceasefire agreement.
During a news conference, Hagari said the Israeli military had intelligence that they were already dead but could not announce it to the public.
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He denied that they were killed in an Israeli air strike and claimed they were “killed with bare hands”.
He did not provide further detail or evidence.
Middle East Eye could not independently verify the circumstances of the childrens' deaths.
The pair were taken captive along with their father and mother by the Mujahideen Brigades, a small armed group that operates in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, during the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.
Dispute over body of Shiri Bibas
Their father, Yarden Bibas, was released earlier this month as part of the ongoing prisoner exchanges between Hamas and Israel.
Hamas on Thursday said it returned the body of the mother, Shiri, alongside those of Ariel and Kfir.
Israeli authorities said Shiri’s body was not returned and that the corpses of unidentified women were sent instead.
Hamas on Friday acknowledged there might have been a mix-up and said it was examining the Israeli claim.
The two sides are set to conclude another wave of prisoner swaps on Saturday, which is set to see six Israelis released from Gaza in exchange for around 600 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
The prisoner swaps are part of the first phase of a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which is set to expire on 1 March.
The deal ended 15 months of relentless Israeli bombardment and attacks in Gaza that have rendered most of the besieged Palestinian territory uninhabitable.
The Israeli assault killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, wounded 111,000, and 10,000 more missing, who are believed dead.
The Hamas-led 7 October attack killed around 1,100 Israelis, and dozens of foreign workers, with 400 more soldiers killed during the subsequent war.
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