The Bibas family said on Tuesday that they were troubled by a Hamas statement earlier in the day that the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, are among those the terrorist group will return to Israel on Thursday.
“In the past few hours, we have been in deep turmoil following the announcement by a Hamas spokesperson regarding the planned return of our beloved Shiri, Ariel and Kfir this Thursday as part of the release of hostages’ remains,” the family said in a statement provided by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
“We want to emphasize that while we are aware of these reports, we have not received any official confirmation on the matter,” the statement continued.
“Until we receive definitive confirmation, our ordeal is not over. We kindly ask the media and the public to respect our privacy and refrain from contacting us about this issue.”
The Israel Defense Forces also responded to the reports, emphasizing that the public should follow official military statements regarding the state of the hostages.
“In the past few hours, unfounded rumors have been spreading regarding the hostages and their families,” the IDF said. “The IDF urges the public to rely only on official statements from authorized sources and to refrain from spreading false rumors that harm the hostages’ families and the public.”
Hamas agreed on Tuesday to double the number of living hostages it will release on Saturday from three to six, and the terror group has also said that it will release the bodies of four dead hostages on Thursday, including those of Shiri Bibas and her two children.
Shiri Bibas, 33, her husband Yarden, 35, and Ariel, 5 and Kfir, 2, were on the list of the 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement. However, Hamas had claimed in November 2023 that Shiri and the children had been killed. Yarden was freed alive on Feb. 1 along with Ofer Kalderon and Keith Siegel.
Eight of the 33 hostages intended for release during the first phase are dead, according to a list provided by Hamas.
Hamas named the Israelis to be freed on Saturday as Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov, Omer Wenkert and Eliya Cohen, all of whom were kidnapped during the terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. In addition, Hamas said it would also release Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who have been held captive in the Strip for a decade and reportedly suffer from mental illness.
An Israeli official told Maariv on Tuesday that the body of Hadar Goldin will not be returned to Israel this week but is expected to be transferred toward the end of phase one next week.
Hamas has held Goldin’s body since he was killed during “Operation Protective Edge” in 2014.
