• Forensic Details Reveal Shocking Murder of Bibas Children: The IDF said on February 21 that Palestinian terrorists murdered with their bare hands Ariel and Kfir Bibas — the two Israeli infants abducted with their parents, Shiri and Yarden Bibas, during the October 7, 2023, Hamas atrocities. IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that the IDF can “confirm” that Ariel and Kfir were “brutally murdered while being held hostage in Gaza” and not killed in an Israeli air strike “contrary to Hamas’s lies.” Hagari revealed that “the terrorists did not shoot the two young boys — they killed them with their bare hands.” Following the killings, Hamas desecrated the bodies of four-year-old Ariel and nine-month-old Kfir, to make forensic analysis difficult and cover up the Iran-backed terrorist group’s atrocities. This revelation came as Israel was still reeling from the earlier news that Shiri Bibas’s remains were not included in the four coffins transported from Gaza to Israel on February 20, despite being presented as such by Hamas.
• IDF Shares Findings With International Partners: Israel said its assessment on the murders of the Bibas children was “based on both forensic findings from the identification process, and intelligence that supports these findings,” which the Israeli army said it sent to “partners around the world” to “verify.” “The entire world must know exactly how the Hamas terrorist organization operates,” Hagari said in his statement. The IDF said that Yarden Bibas, who was recently released, gave permission to publish the forensic findings and “requested that the entire world know the manner in which they murdered his children.”
• Body Sent in Place of Shiri Bibas: The IDF also revealed that the terrorist organization returned an anonymous Gazan woman’s body in place of Shiri Bibas during the February 20 handover of the four deceased hostages, which also included 83-year-old Oded Lifshitz. Israel demanded that the body of Shiri Bibas be returned to Israel “in accordance with” the ongoing ceasefire agreement. For its part, Hamas recycled its false claim about the Bibas family dying in an Israeli airstrike, saying there may have been an “error or mix up” in bodies supposedly found in the rubble.
“Today the world experiences October 7 all over again with an inability to look away from Palestinian crimes against humanity committed not just on that day but in the weeks and months that have followed as well. This butchery must be met with extraordinary responses. U.S. policy should be committed to dismantling the institutional pillars of Palestinian radicalization and incitement to genocide, including UNRWA.” — Richard Goldberg, Senior Advisor
“As if kidnapping, brutally murdering, and parading around the corpses of two young children wasn’t enough, the terrorist group then sent an unidentified body instead of that of Shiri Bibas, Ariel and Kfir’s mother. Hamas may not have put Shiri’s body in the coffin, but they sure put the final nail in the coffin of the two-state solution.” — David May, Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst
“Hamas’s explanation for not returning the body of Shiri Bibas boils down to a mix-up with the body. However, there are numerous reasons to suspect this is merely a fabricated story to serve its propaganda. Hamas and its allies have a proven history of dishonesty regarding the condition of hostages. Moreover, in May of last year, Hamas attempted to disguise the body of an unidentified individual as that of an Israeli soldier in their custody — a claim the IDF proved to be false.” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal
“‘Grief Too Heavy to Bear’: Bodies of Four Israeli Hostages, Including Shiri Bibas and Two Sons, Returned to Israel,” FDD Flash Brief
“Hamas Reportedly Willing to Release All Israeli Hostages in Single Exchange Once Second Phase of Ceasefire Begins,” FDD Flash Brief
“‘Hamas Executed a Mother and Her Two Children in Cold Blood’: Bibas Family Bodies Reportedly Included in Upcoming Hostage Release,” FDD Flash Brief
“Three Israeli Hostages Released After Nearly 500 Days in Hamas Captivity,” FDD Flash Brief