The Japan Times - Netanyahu vows militants to pay as Hamas cites 'error' over Bibas body

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said after an analysis of the remains that Palestinian militants had killed the Bibas boys "with their bare hands", while Hamas has long maintained an Israeli air strike killed them and their mother early in the war.

Relatives of the Bibas family, however, suggested Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was also accountable for the deaths, saying he would receive "no forgiveness" for abandoning the mother and her children during their ordeal.

More than 15 months of war have left much of Gaza in ruins after Palestinian militants attacked Israel and seized 251 hostages on October 7, 2023.

Despite tensions over Thursday's transfer of remains from the territory, the next swap of live hostages for Palestinian inmates being held in Israeli prisons was still expected to go ahead Saturday under an ongoing truce deal.

Hamas had said the four bodies returned on Thursday in accordance with the truce included those of Bibas and her two sons Ariel, aged four at the time of his abduction, and Kfir, the youngest hostage at just nine months old.

On Friday, however, after forensic analysis, Israel said the body purported to be Shiri Bibas was not her, with Netanyahu saying Hamas had "placed the body of a Gazan woman in a coffin".

Hamas admitted "the possibility of an error or mix-up of bodies", which it attributed to Israeli bombing of the area.

Netanyahu vowed to "ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement".

In response, Hamas affirmed its "seriousness and full commitment" to its responsibilities under the ceasefire, and said it had "no interest in failing to comply or holding on to any bodies".

It also asked Israel to return the body of the Gazan woman.

- Killed with 'bare hands' -

"Who kidnaps a little boy and a baby and murders them? Monsters. That's who," Netanyahu said. "I vow that I will not rest until the savages who executed our hostages are brought to justice."

But the sister-in-law of Shiri Bibas said in a statement that the family was "not seeking revenge right now", while levelling a measure of the blame at Netanyahu.

"There is no forgiveness for abandoning them on October 7, and no forgiveness for abandoning them in captivity. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we did not receive an apology from you in this painful moment," Ofri Bibas said.

"We are still waiting for Shiri and fear for her fate."

Via the Red Cross, Hamas also handed over a fourth body, that of Oded Lifshitz, a veteran journalist and long-time defender of Palestinian rights who was aged 83 at the time of his capture.

The repatriations were part of the six-week initial phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which took effect on January 19 and is to expire in early March.

The deal has so far led to the release of 19 living Israeli hostages in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas's armed wing confirmed on Friday that it would release six Israelis in the seventh such swap since the ceasefire began.

Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum has published the names of the six Israelis to be freed tomorrow as Eliya Cohen, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Hisham al-Sayed and Avera Mengistu.

The latter two have been held in Gaza for around a decade.

- Arab leaders meet -

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has said talks will begin this week on the truce's second phase, aiming to lay out a more permanent end to the war.

A Hamas spokesman on Thursday accused Netanyahu of "procrastinating" on phase two, saying the group was "ready to engage" in negotiations.

The ceasefire in Gaza has held despite accusations of violations by both sides.

It has also come under strain from US President Donald Trump's widely condemned idea to take control of Gaza and relocate its population of more than two million Palestinians.

Arab leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia on Friday to discuss a recovery plan for Gaza aimed at countering Trump's suggestion.

Alongside the Gaza war, violence has surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu on Friday ordered an "intensive operation against centers of terrorism" in the West Bank, his office said, and he later visited the Tulkarem refugee camp, where troops are operating.

His order came after three buses exploded in central Israel without causing any reported injuries.

Hamas and its allies took 251 people hostage during the October 7 attack. There are 67 hostages still in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military has said are dead.

The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,214 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,319 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

K.Inoue--JT