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'BOUNDLESS CRUELTY’
Hamas will ‘PAY’ for not returning body of Bibas mum with 2 dead kids, Netanyahu vows after mystery remains handed over
Hamas say they are investigating the 'mistake'
EVIL Hamas thugs will pay for not handing over hostage mum Shiri Bibas' body alongside her two children, Netanyahu has warned.
The Israeli prime minister labelled the terror group "monsters" for the depraved act after they put on a sickening spectacle on Thursday.
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Hamas handed over the bodies of Shiri's 9-month-old Kfir and four-year-old Ariel inside sickening black coffins.
A casket believed to contain the remains of Shiri was also given to Red Cross volunteers.
But hours after the initial twisted handover ceremony, the IDF announced they couldn't identify the body as Shiri's.
They claimed that the casket which Hamas said belonged to the mum actually contained "an anonymous, unidentified" person with "no match" found for any other hostage.
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The harrowing statement from the IDF added that it was a "violation of utmost severity" by Hamas.
They demanded the terror group "return Shiri home along with all our hostages" immediately.
The heinous move by the terror group to allegedly lie about the handover has been widely condemned.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as an "unspeakable" act which shows "the cruelty of the Hamas monsters know no bounds".
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He added in a video statement: "We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages - both living and dead - and ensure Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement."
Netanyahu also claimed the body handed over at the twisted parade on Thursday morning belonged to an unknown Gazan woman.
Hamas hands over bodies of Bibas children, 2 & 5, & their mum in grotesque parade after kidnapping family on Oct 7
Hamas reportedly attempted to explain their way out of the fury by claiming the remains belonged to the mum as well as a mixture of other human remnants.
A Hamas official told AFP they are investigating the "mistake".
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon quickly slammed the Palestinian militants as he said they treated the coffin like a "worthless shipment”.
“This is a new low, an evil and cruelty with no parallel,” he said in a statement.
“There are no words that can describe such an atrocity.”
US president Donald Trump’s envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, said the stunt now puts the ceasefire deal into serious jeopardy.
He warned Hamas must release all the remaining hostages or face “total annihilation”.
Shiri's despairing face as she was kidnapped while clutching her two children became a symbol for the horror of the October 7 massacre.
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The IDF say they have managed to identify the bodies of Shiri's young sons, Ariel and Kfir as well as retired Israeli journalist Oded Lifshitz.
The apparent causes of the deaths were also revealed.
According to the IDF, citing intelligence and forensic findings, the two little boys were "brutally murdered" by the Hamas thugs in November 2023.
So was Lifshitz who had originally been kidnapped alongside his wife.
Baby Kfir - the youngest captive - was only nine months old when he was barbarically forced to spend the majority of his life as a Hamas prisoner.
Israel say he likely died when he was only 11 months old.
The official flag on Israel has been turned orange on social media in honour of the brothers due to their ginger hair.
The IDF confirmed that while Hamas' violation would be "dealt with severely," Saturday's prisoner swap is expected to go ahead as planned.
At least 66 hostages still remain captive in Gaza over 500 days on from the initial bloodshed with those who died in captivity finally being returned to their loved ones.
Only half are believed to be still alive, Israel fears.
A top Hamas official said another six living hostages will be freed on Saturday before another set of bodies are returned.
The six are said to be the last living hostages Hamas will release during the first phase of the fragile ceasefire agreement.
They are Eliya Cohen, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Hisham Al-Sayed, and Avera Mengistu, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
A TWISTED PARADE
On Thursday, Hamas thugs put on a deplorable showpiece using the locked coffins of Kfir, Ariel, Lifshitz and who was initially believed to be Shiri.
A twisted image of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was also featured in the heinous spectacle.
The IDF - who were given the coffins by Red Cross volunteers - said they had to screen the boxes "for security purposes" over potential bomb fears.
It was reported in local media that the coffins were all locked by Hamas before they gave them up.
Unverified claims also said the correct keys were not handed over - leaving the IDF having to pry open the boxes.
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The harrowing spectacle saw evil masked militants, dressed in their usual green balaclavas and combat gear, parading through the city of Khan Younis.
Hamas fighters stood in formation around a makeshift stage where the bodies were handed over to the Red Cross.
The vile militants lifted up a curtain to reveal the coffins on the platform.
A disturbing poster acted as a backdrop for the twisted parade which again showed the PM and the four brave hostages.
Hundreds of men, women and children gathered in the devastated Gaza strip to watch the release as official documents verifying the transfer were signed.
Hamas have spent the first few weeks of the hostage deal celebrating each trade by making chilling propaganda videos - with today being viewed by many as the most deplorable of all.
They'll regret it
By Nick Parker, Foreign Editor
WHAT are the cornered Hamas rats thinking when they line up the coffins of murdered children in front of a picture of Benjamin Netanyahu as a blood-soaked vampire?
Do they really think stunts like this will garner more support from their deluded followers, who believe Israel is the epitome of all evil?
Do they think twisting the knife in the open wounds of an Israeli public struggling to contain its grief will weaken their enemy?
On both counts they are wrong and the more they bait and wind up Israel, the more they will come to regret it in the fullness of time.
Hamas and its death cult ideology is a spent force and making Israelis weep with anger may be its only remaining weapon — and one which will soon by turned against them.
The gamechanger in the Middle East is US President Donald Trump. He is 200 per cent on Israel’s side.
Israelis mourning the deaths of children, their mother and a peace campaigner should at least take comfort — evil Hamas will not be allowed to run Gaza much longer.
One of the most scathing reactions to the parade saw Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli say the West failed to truly realise the "pure evil" lurking nearby.
The Israeli politician wrote online: "We have raised generations to believe that monsters exist only in fairy tales, that there is no true right or wrong, and that all cultures are equal.
“And then comes this accursed day, a day of horror and shame, when an elderly man, a mother, and her two children who were slaughtered by Hamas terrorists are paraded like trophies before a cheering, flag-waving crowd in Gaza."
Israeli politician IItamar Ben Gvir even said Hamas should be marched to “the gates of hell” due to the harrowing handover ceremony.
United Nations Human Rights chief Volker Turk also made a statement earlier today saying “the parading of bodies in Gaza is abhorrent and cruel and flies in the face of international law”.
The bodies are now with the IDF back in Israel after they held a short military ceremony back in the Gaza Strip.
Images show troops paying their respects as they draped the coffins in Israeli flags before sending them off to Tel Aviv just after 1:30pm local time (11:30am GMT).
Touching footage of the moment a motorcade supported by Israeli troops passed across the border showed how dozens of police officers saluted as the coffins were driven past.
A family left in turmoil
The loved ones of the Bibas brothers and mum are said to be in "turmoil" after all three tragically died while in Hamas captivity.
The whole family sheltered inside their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz when Hamas fiends rampaged through southern Israel on October 7.
They kept anxious relatives elsewhere in Israel updated by text message as gunmen stormed through neighbours' homes.
A short time later a horrific video emerged of Shiri looking utterly terrified and crying as she clung to her two sons while Hamas gunmen led them away from the family home.
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Relatives had been clinging onto hope despite having no proof of life over the family for months.
That hope was extinguished this week with confirmation that the mother and boys – who had been on the list for release in the first six-week phase of the ceasefire – were dead.
The fourth body returned was 84-year-old retired journalist and peace activist Oded Lifschitz.
He was snatched from kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel, along with this wife, Yocheved, 85, on October 7.
Israel are also aware of four other hostages who are confirmed as dead and due to be handed over soon.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum labelled the news of the deaths as “heart-shattering” this week.
It is not yet clear who the other deceased captives are as Israeli hostage families desperately continue to cling on to hope.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Women, children and men were brutalised by Hamas terrorists from the moment they swept across the border amid the October 7 atrocity.
Vile terrorists captured 251 hostages, many of who were subjected to unspeakably warped treatment, with another 1,200 killed.
What happened on October 7?
ON OCTOBER 7, 2023, Hamas launched a brutal surprise attack on Israel, marking one of the darkest days in the nation’s history.
Terrorists stormed across the border from Gaza, killing over 1,200 people — most of them civilians — and kidnapping 250 others, including women, children, and the elderly.
The coordinated assault saw heavily armed fighters infiltrate Israeli towns, kibbutzim, and military bases, unleashing indiscriminate violence.
Innocent families were slaughtered in their homes, and graphic footage of the atrocities spread across social media, leaving the world in shock.
And as well as attacking people in their homes, they stormed the Nova music peace festival - killing at least 364 people there alone.
The massacre triggered a swift and massive retaliatory response from Israel, escalating into a full-scale war.
The attack not only reignited long-standing tensions in the region but also left deep scars on both sides of the conflict, setting the stage for the 15 months of devastation that followed.
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