US envoy warns Hamas to release all hostages ‘or face total annihilation’

Boehler: ‘It’s not just that you need to release her (Shiri Bibas’s) body; you must free all of the remaining hostages.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

US envoy for hostages Adam Boehler had harsh words for Hamas after they returned an anonymous corpse to Israel instead of the body of Shiri Bibas.

Boehler described Hamas’s action as “a clear violation” and offered this piece of advice: “It’s not just that you need to release her body; you must free all of the remaining hostages.”

He pointed out that Hamas is still holding Idan Alexander, an Israeli-American, and stated, “Idan needs to come home.”

“If I were them, I’d release everyone, or they will face total annihilation,” he added.

On Thursday, Hamas held a ceremony for cheering crowds in Gaza, claiming the bodies in the coffins belonged to hostages Kfir Bibas, Ariel Bibas, Shiri Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz.

However, upon examination by a forensics team, it was revealed that the body they said was Shiri Bibas’s was actually that of an anonymous woman, not a hostage.

Additionally, Hamas falsely claimed that the Bibas family members were killed by Israeli airstrikes. Forensic experts determined that the Bibas children had been murdered.

Yarden Bibas, their father, was released from Hamas captivity last week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences in a Hebrew-language video statement: “The State of Israel bows its head over the loss of two small children, tender infants, brothers—Ariel and Kfir Bibas, may their memory be a blessing—and over Oded Lifshitz, may his memory be a blessing, one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz.”

“All three were brutally murdered in Hamas captivity during the first weeks of the war. The cruelty of Hamas knows no bounds.”

Netanyahu continued, “Not only did they abduct the father, Yarden Bibas, the young mother, Shiri, and their two little babies, but in an act of unimaginable cynicism, they did not return Shiri to her small children. Instead, they placed the body of a Gazan woman in the coffin.”

He pledged that Hamas would pay “the full price” for violating the ceasefire and hostage deal with Israel.

“We will act with determination to bring Shiri home, along with all our captives—both the living and the fallen—and we will ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and vicious breach of the agreement.”