By Ikram Kouachi
ANKARA (AA) — The Israeli army announced Friday that the body it received from the Palestinian group Hamas on Thursday does not belong to Shiri Bibas, an Israeli hostage held in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas handed over the bodies of Bibas and her two children, Ariel and Kfir, as well as Oded Lifshitz in the southern city of Khan Younis on Thursday under a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.
In a statement, the Israel army said: “Following the completion of the identification process by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in collaboration with the Israel Police, IDF (Israeli army) representatives informed the Bibas family that their loved ones, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, have been identified.”
It added that “during the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage.”
Hamas said the Israeli captives were killed in indiscriminate airstrikes by Tel Aviv during the 15-month genocide in the enclave.