Hamas Announces Return of Bibas Family Bodies, Israel Awaits Confirmation

Heartbreak and hope as Hamas set to return Bibas family bodies

NIR OZ, Israel - A few hours after Hamas said it would return the bodies of Israeli hostages Shiri Bibas and her two little children on Thursday, her sister-in-law said she had not given up hope of seeing them return home, alive.

The bodies of Shiri and his sons Ariel and Kfir will be handed over tomorrow to the Israeli authorities as part of the first phase of the conflict agreements in the Gaza Strip. The only survivor of the family is Yarden, father of the boys and partner of the murdered woman, who had been released on the first day of February

The Forum of Hostage Families in Israel announced on Wednesday that it had been informed of the death of Bibas children and their mothers, as well as of the death of a fourth captive in Gaza, whose remains are to be handed over by Hamas on Thursday as part of the truce agreement.

The radical Islamic Palestinian organization has announced that it will hand over four corpses to Israel, including the Bibas family, but the family does not want to give up hope.

Hamas has announced that it will release six live hostages on Saturday.

Neither Hamas nor Israel trust the agreed ceasefire: in order to achieve as much as possible, both sides have preferred the next exchange of hostages and prisoners.