The Palestinian militant group Hamas on Friday said it is investigating a possible error in identifying human remains handed to Israel under the ceasefire deal.
This is as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened retaliation for Hamas failing to release the body of hostage Shiri Bibas.
Hamas was due to hand over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, Kfir and Ariel, on Thursday, along with the remains of a fourth hostage under the ceasefire deal that has halted fighting in Gaza since last month.
Four bodies were delivered and the identities of the Bibas boys and the fourth hostage, Oded Lifshitz, were confirmed.
However, Israeli specialists said the fourth body was that of an unidentified woman and not Bibas, who was kidnapped along with her sons and her husband, Yarden, during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
A member of the Hamas political bureau, Basem Naim, in a statement, said unfortunate mistakes could occur, especially as Israeli bombing had mangled the bodies of Israeli hostages and Palestinians, thousands of whom were still buried in the rubble.
“We confirm that it is not in our values or our interest to keep any bodies or not to abide by the covenants and agreements that we sign,” he said.
Hamas said separately that it would investigate the Israeli assertions and announce the results.
The failure to hand over the body and the staged public handover of the four coffins on Thursday, caused outrage in Israel and drew a threat of retaliation from Netanyahu.
“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 said in a video statement.
