Israel has accused Hamas of breaching the ceasefire agreement after forensic tests confirmed that one of the bodies returned from Gaza on Thursday was not that of Shiri Bibas.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) identified three of the returned bodies as Bibas' young sons, Ariel and Kfir, aged five and two, and Oded Lifshitz. However, the fourth body did not belong to Shiri Bibas or any other hostage, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to claim on Friday that Hamas had "placed the body of a Gazan woman in the coffin."

Hamas has yet to respond to this accusation or to Israel’s assertion that intelligence and forensic analysis indicate the two children "were brutally murdered by terrorists in captivity in November 2023."

Hamas previously claimed that Shiri Bibas and her children perished in an Israeli airstrike that same month.

Israel has demanded the return of Shiri’s body, along with the release of the remaining captives.

"We will act decisively to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages—living and deceased—and to ensure Hamas bears full responsibility for this cruel and inhumane violation of the agreement," Netanyahu stated.

The IDF announced on X that "identification procedures confirmed that the additional body recovered is not that of Shiri Bibas and has no connection to any known hostage. This remains an unidentified body."

"This represents a grave breach of the agreement by the Hamas terrorist group, which was obligated to return four deceased hostages. We demand that Hamas return Shiri, as well as all our hostages," the statement continued.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum expressed deep anguish, saying they were "horrified and devastated" that Shiri was not among those returned, despite the agreement and their profound hopes.

Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas were taken hostage during the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, when she was 32, Ariel was four, and Kfir was just nine months old. Their plight resonated deeply across Israel, and the confirmation of their deaths led to widespread mourning.

Their father, Yarden Bibas, 34, was released by Hamas on 1 February.

Israel has confirmed that the fourth body returned was that of veteran peace activist Oded Lifshitz.

The return of hostages' remains was part of a ceasefire agreement that took effect on 19 January. As per the deal, Israel expects to receive eight bodies in total.

Both sides had consented to a prisoner exchange, with 33 hostages being swapped for approximately 1,900 detainees within the first six weeks of the ceasefire.

Further negotiations, aimed at a subsequent phase that would lead to the release of the remaining living hostages and the conclusion of the war, were scheduled to commence earlier this month, but talks have yet to begin.

So far, 28 hostages and over 1,000 prisoners have been exchanged.

At present, 66 hostages captured on 7 October remain in Gaza, alongside three others who had been held for over a decade. It is estimated that approximately half of the remaining hostages are still alive.

The initial Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, with 251 individuals taken to Gaza as hostages. In retaliation, Israel initiated a large-scale military campaign against Hamas, which, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, has claimed at least 48,297 Palestinian lives, predominantly civilians.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, three buses exploded in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv, in what Israeli police suspect was a terror attack.

Authorities reported that explosive devices in two additional buses failed to detonate, adding that "a large police presence is deployed at the scene, actively searching for suspects." No injuries have been reported thus far.

Following this incident, Prime Minister Netanyahu's office announced that he had instructed the military to launch an "intensive operation against terrorist strongholds" in the West Bank.