Shiri Bibas murdered in Gaza captivity, Hamas hands over Shiri’s body to the Red Cross

“With pain and deep sorrow, Kibbutz Nir Oz announces the murder of Shiri Bibas, may her memory be a blessing, who was kidnapped from her home,” according to a statement from the community.

On Thursday, Hamas returned the bodies of the Bibas children, Kfir and Ariel, along with that of octogenarian Oded Lifshitz. However, the fourth body freed from Gaza, which Hamas said was that of Shiri Bibis, was found to belong to an unidentified person.

“Shiri is brought home after 505 days,” The Hostage and Missing Families Forum confirmed in a statement on Saturday.

“Shiri Bibas was abducted at the age of 32, along with her two young boys from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. On October 7th the world held its breath in agony, watching the horrific images of Shiri, holding Ariel and Kfir in her arms, as she was abducted at gunpoint,” it continued.

“Today, we all mourn the loss of this lioness mother, who fiercely defended her sons until the very end.”

The forum subsequently released a statement on behalf of the Bibas family.

“Following the identification process at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, we received this morning the news we had dreaded—our Shiri was murdered in captivity and has now returned home to her sons, husband, sister, and all her family for rest.

“Despite our fears about their fate, we continued to hope that we would get to embrace them, and now we are in pain and heartbroken,” continued the statement. “For 16 months we sought certainty, and now that it’s here, it brings no comfort, though we hope it marks the beginning of closure….

“In this difficult hour, we continue to demand and call for the immediate return of the remaining hostages still in captivity. There is no more important goal. There can be no rehabilitation without them.”

On Oct. 7, 2023, terrorists overtook Kibbutz Nir Oz. They breached the Bibas family home’s door using a drill and equipment they had brought with them and entered the safe room where the four were hiding. Yarden reported the attack to his wider family in real-time, writing that “it feels like the end.”

He attempted to defend the family with his personal weapon but was overwhelmed. In photos, he can be seen on a motorcycle between two terrorists, wounded and bleeding from his head.

The video of Shiri’s kidnapping—trying to protect her two children with her arms and fear written on her face as she was surrounded by masked men with weapons—became a symbol of the Oct. 7 massacre. Shiri’s parents, Yossi and Margit Silberman, were also murdered that day.

Yarden Bibas was freed on Feb. 1 after 484 days in Hamas captivity.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday morning eulogized the slain hostages and vowed to hold Hamas accountable.

“The cruelty of the Hamas monsters knows no bounds. Not only did they kidnap the father, Yarden Bibas, the young mother, Shiri, and their two small babies. In an unspeakably cynical manner, they did not return Shiri to her little children, the little angels, and they put the body of a Gazan woman in a coffin,” said Netanyahu in a video message to the nation.

“We will work resolutely to bring Shiri home together with all our abductees—both living and dead—and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement,” he added.

Later Saturday, Hamas is due to free hostages Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov, Omer Wenkert and Eliya Cohen, who were all kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023. The terror group also said it would release Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who reportedly suffer from mental illness and entered the Strip on their volition over a decade ago.