The body of Shiri Bibas was finally returned to her family after twisted Hamas terrorists initially sent the wrong one.
The proper remains were received on Friday and her identity confirmed by the Bibas family and Israeli officials on Saturday.
“Our Shiri was murdered in captivity and has now returned home,” the family said in a statement. “For 16 months, we sought certainty, and now that we have it. There is no comfort in it, but we hope for the beginning of a closure.”
Israel “will not forget and will not forgive” Hamas’ murder of the 32-year-old mother and her two young sons, 9-month-old Kfir and 4-year-old Ariel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu vowed to make Hamas pay for the “cruel and evil violation” of the cease-fire deal.
Forensic examinations found terrorists murdered the mother and sons “in cold blood” with their bare hands, the Israeli Defense Forces said.
ROW 1- Israeli hostages Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov, Omer Wenkert. Row 2: Eliya Cohen, Avera Mengistu, Hisham al-Sayed
Eliya Cohen was released from captivity as part of the ceasefire deal. REUTERS
The terror group claimed that the three were killed in an airstrike.
Heartbreaking photos show IDF soldiers saluting Shiri’s casket, which was draped in an Israeli flag, late Friday.
Eliya Cohen was kidnapped from the Nova Festival. Instagram / @bringeliyahome
Monuments and buildings across the world, including Brazil, Argentina and Italy, were lit up in orange Saturday in memory of the mother and children.
Bibas’ husband and the boys’ father, Yarden, was kidnapped separately and released alive on Feb. 1.
While Israel mourned with the family, it also celebrated the release of six more hostages Saturday, including two who were held for nearly a decade.
They represent the final group of hostages promised under the first stage of the fragile but ongoing cease-fire deal.
Cohen celebrated his release as he was driven to Bellinson hospital in Israel. Getty Images
Israeli hostage Tal Shoham is escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025 AP
Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov was handed over to the Red Cross at Nuseirat in the Gaza Strip. MOHAMMED SABER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 38, were received by members of the International Committee to the Red Cross at the handover site in Rafah in southern Gaza.
Eliya Cohen, 27, Omer Shem Tov, 22, and Omer Wenkert, 23, were released at Nuseirat in the Gaza Strip later on Saturday. All three were brought to an IDF facility near the Israel-Gaza border and are receiving medical treatment.
As they have in the past, Hamas released the hostages in elaborately staged propaganda ceremonies.
Photos showed a thin but smiling Shem Tov standing with his armed captors shortly before the release.
Omer Wenkert waved from inside a helicopter after he was released from captivity. REUTERS
Avera Mengistu is seen before he’s freed from Hamas captivity. AP
At one point, the video showed him kissing the forehead of a Hamas terrorist under duress.
Once aboard an IDF helicopter, Shem Tov was seen beaming, giving a thumbs-up and holding a whiteboard on which he wrote a note saying, “Now everything is OK! Thank you to the dear people of Israel, and to all the soldiers!”
“I want a hamburger,” he added.
Shem Tov, who suffers from asthma and celiac disease, did not receive the necessary care and gluten-free food while in captivity, raising concerns for his family and doctors and likely exacerbating his condition, the Jerusalem Post reported.
His appearance shocked his family, according to his father, Malki Shem Tov.
“We didn’t even know what he would look like,” the father told The Times of Israel. “He just came out and surprised us all, with the smile, the wave — it’s just crazy.”
Omer Shem Tov reunited with his family after his release, part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel. via REUTERS
Loved ones filled the room with emotion as they watched the televised release of Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov. AFP via Getty Images
Prior to Eliya’s return, his uncle, Kobi Cohen, said the family was “unbelievably nervous” but ready to “rehabilitate” him.
“I saw the smile on his face and I knew while they may have starved him, they didn’t beat him in his soul,” Cohen said after seeing him.
Friends and supporters celebrated the release of Omer Shem Tov. REUTERS
After returning home from Gaza, Cohen took to social media to thank the soldiers and everyone who donated and helped fight to get him home.
“Every prayer of yours was felt in my heart and strengthened me every moment anew,” he wrote.
“We must not forget our brothers who were left behind, and soon, I will join you in the fight for them,” he added.
Hamas released a sixth hostage, Hisham Al-Sayed, 37, in Gaza City to the representatives of the Red Cross — who have worked closely with the terrorist organization — without a ceremony.
Mengistu and al-Sayed were both held captive for nearly 10 years before the terror group and its allies launched their bloodthirsty Oct. 7, 2023 rampage in Israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping another 251.
Wenkert was released by Hamas terrorists Saturday. REUTERS
Israeli authorities confirmed Friday that Shiri Bibas’ body had been returned.
Mengistu, an Ethiopian-born Israeli national who Israel said was struggling with mental health issues, was taken hostage after he crossed the Gazan border alone in September 2014, just two weeks after the end of that year’s deadly Israel-Gaza war, Ynet reported.
In a phone call with Mengistu Saturday, Netanyahu expressed sorrow over the length of time he was held captive and promised to assist him and his family through the process of “absorption and rehabilitation,” his office said.
Al-Sayed, who Israeli officials said also struggled with mental health issues, was kidnapped months later in February 2015, after also crossing the border, according to the Israeli outlet.
Cohen, Shem Tov and Wenkert were among those abducted during the Oct. 7 massacre at the Nova music festival that left 364 revelers dead.
Israeli hostages Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov and Omer Wenkert were escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross. AP
Omer Shem Tov’s sister teared up as she watched her brother being released by Hamas terrorists. AFP via Getty Images
Tal Shoham, meanwhile, was visiting his in-laws in Kibbutz Be’eri when Hamas launched its brutal rampage.
Shoham and several of his family members, including his wife, two young daughters, and mother-in-law, were dragged to Gaza by Hamas, who killed his father-in-law during the attack.
Shoham’s kin were freed during a brief cease-fire in November 2023.
The terms of the cease-fire deal’s first stage called for 33 hostages to be released in exchange for roughly 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Shoham, now reunited with his family, had been visiting his in-laws in Kibbutz Be’eri when Hamas launched its brutal rampage. via REUTERS
Israel pushed the prisoner release to later Saturday evening, allowing for security consultations regarding the Israeli hostages to be completed, according to reports. Hamas slammed the delay as a violation of the agreement.
The first stage of the fragile peace is slated to end March 2.
Hamas is believed to have 59 hostages still in its clutches, roughly 36 of whom are thought to be dead, according to Israeli officials. At least four more bodies of slain hostages are expected to be released before the first stage of the cease-fire ends.
Among those predicted to be released in the second stage is Edan Alexander, 20, of Tenafly, NJ, who is the last American hostage thought to still be alive in Gaza.
Family members of Cohen were filled with joy when they saw him released. Getty Images
Omer Wenkert was able to text his parents during the attack while he was in a bomb shelter, writing to them, “God, missiles above my head.”
Negotiations to hash out details of the truce’s next stage — initially outlined as seeing all live hostages returned in exchange for a permanent end to the war in Gaza — have not yet begun and are expected to be more difficult.
With Post wires