Middle East crisis live: Israeli military says body of Shiri Bibas is not among returned hostages | Israel
Opening summary
Welcome to our live coverage of the Middle East crisis.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has accused Hamas of a “very serious violation” of the terms of the hostage handover, saying the body of Shiri Bibas was not among the bodies received on Thursday.
It said in a statement: “During the identification process, it was found that the additional body received was not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other abductee.” The bodies of her children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were four years and nine months old respectively, had been identified, the IDF said.
The military has demanded that the body of Shiri Bibas be returned home along with all other hostages. It did not specify a timeframe.
Bibas and her children – who Hamas claims were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the early days of the war – became an indelible symbol of the attack of 7 October 2023. Shiri Bibas’s parents were killed in the Hamas offensive, and her husband, Yarden, was taken captive and released earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the military to step up its offensives across the occupied WestBank after a series of bomb blasts involving buses rocked central Israel on Thursday.
“In light of the serious attempted attacks in the Gush Dan [central] area by Palestinian terrorist organisations against the civilian population in Israel, I have instructed the IDF to intensify operations to thwart terrorism in the Tulkarem refugee camp and in all the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria” Katz said in a statement, using the biblical term for the WestBank. There were no immediate reports of injuries in the blasts.
More details soon.
Key events
Benjamin Netanyahu says he has ordered the Israeli military to carry out an intensive operation against what he called “centres of terrorism” in the West Bank.
The Israeli prime minister also said on social media that he had ordered Shin Bet and police to increase “preventative” measures against attacks on Israeli cities.
The move comes after a series of blasts on three parked buses on Thursday which Israeli authorities said was a suspected terrorist attack. No injuries were reported.
A post from Netanyahu’s prime ministerial account on X said today:
The Prime Minister has ordered the IDF to carry out an intensive operation against centers of terrorism in Judea and Samaria. The Prime Minister also ordered the Israel Police and the ISA [Israeli security agency] to increase preventative activity against additional attacks in Israeli cities.
The Israeli military has said the two Bibas boys were “murdered by terrorists” in Gaza.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said earlier that Ariel and Kfir Bibas had been identified after their bodies were released by Hamas on Thursday under the current ceasefire agreement.
The boys had been aged four years and nine months old respectively when they were abducted by Hamas.
The militant group has claimed the two children were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
The IDF posted on X today:
According to the assessment of professional officials, based on the intelligence available to us and forensic findings from the identification process, Ariel and Kfir Bibas were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023.
Kfir and Ariel Bibas and their mother Shiri Bibas in signs displayed in Tel Aviv in late 2023 calling for their release. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
Opening summary
Welcome to our live coverage of the Middle East crisis.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has accused Hamas of a “very serious violation” of the terms of the hostage handover, saying the body of Shiri Bibas was not among the bodies received on Thursday.
It said in a statement: “During the identification process, it was found that the additional body received was not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other abductee.” The bodies of her children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were four years and nine months old respectively, had been identified, the IDF said.
The military has demanded that the body of Shiri Bibas be returned home along with all other hostages. It did not specify a timeframe.
Bibas and her children – who Hamas claims were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the early days of the war – became an indelible symbol of the attack of 7 October 2023. Shiri Bibas’s parents were killed in the Hamas offensive, and her husband, Yarden, was taken captive and released earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the military to step up its offensives across the occupied WestBank after a series of bomb blasts involving buses rocked central Israel on Thursday.
“In light of the serious attempted attacks in the Gush Dan [central] area by Palestinian terrorist organisations against the civilian population in Israel, I have instructed the IDF to intensify operations to thwart terrorism in the Tulkarem refugee camp and in all the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria” Katz said in a statement, using the biblical term for the WestBank. There were no immediate reports of injuries in the blasts.
