Israel claims body of one of four hostages not of kidnapped woman, not even…, furious Netanyahu pledges…

Six hostages will be released on Saturday, February 22.

Jerusalem/Tel Aviv: As part of the ceasefire and prisoner-hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian group on Thursday, February 20, returned the bodies of four hostages to Israel from Gaza. The dead hostages included an elderly man, Oded Lifshitz, who had been a journalist and peace activist along with three others said to be a mother and two young boys who were taken hostages following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The Israeli military said on Friday, 21 February 2025 that the remains of two child hostages have been identified. However, the other body was not of the boys’ mother.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a statement identified the two boys as infant Kfir Bibas and four-year-old Ariel Bibas while the additional body did not belong to their mother Shiri Bibas or any other Israeli hostage.

“The additional body is not that of their mother, Shiri, nor that of any other Israeli hostage,” said IDF while the identity of the body remains unknown.

Hamas has claimed that the two boys and their mother had died in an Israeli airstrike in November 2023, but Israeli authorities did not confirm their deaths.

The return of the hostages was part of the exchange under last month’s Gaza ceasefire agreement, brokered with support from the USA, Qatar, and Egypt.

Thursday’s exchange will be followed by the release of six living hostages on Saturday, February 22 in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, mainly women and minors detained by Israeli forces during the war.

The second phase of negotiations is expected to focus on the release of around 60 remaining hostages and Israel’s full troop withdrawal from Gaza to end the war is set to begin soon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge against Hamas on Thursday. Israel has said that about 250 hostages were taken in the October 2023 attack.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the parading of bodies and displaying of the coffins of the deceased hostages describing it as abhorrent and appalling.

The Hamas attack on Israel caused nearly 1,200 deaths, with 251 people taken hostage, according to Israeli figures. In response, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed about 48,000 people, according to Palestinian health officials.

(With IANS inputs)