'Unspeakable cynicism': Netanyahu vows revenge as Israel accuses Hamas of returning the wrong body
Synopsis
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised the "unspeakable cynicism" of Hamas after Israeli forensic authorities determined that the body handed over, which Hamas said was of Shiri Bibas, the mother of the two young children that were taken hostage, is not her.
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Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised the "unspeakable cynicism" of Hamas after Israeli forensic authorities determined that the body handed over, which Hamas said was of Shiri Bibas, the mother of the two young children that were taken hostage, is not her, reported the Times of Israel.
"The cruelty of the Hamas monsters knows no bounds," Netanyahu said in a video statement. "Not only did they kidnap the father, Yarden Bibas, but the young mother, Shiri, and their two small babies. But in an unspeakably cynical manner, they did not return Shiri alongside her young children, the little angels, and they put the body of a Gazan woman in the coffin," he added.
Yarden Bibas, husband of the deceased woman, was freed earlier this month.
''Israel will act resolutely to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages, both living and dead, and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement." Netanyahu vowed.
Israel's Prime Minister also expressed sadness at the confirmation that the other three bodies returned were those of Oded Lifshitz, 83, Ariel Bibas, 4, and Kfir, approximately 10 months, saying that "the three of them were brutally murdered in Hamas captivity in the first weeks of the war."
"May God avenge their blood and we too will avenge," Netanyahu said.
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The Israel Prime Minister also ordered Israel's military to conduct operations in the occupied West Bank after three empty buses exploded, in a suspected terror attack, near Tel Aviv last night.
No casualties were reported and there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, which occurred when explosive devices planted on the empty vehicles detonated in quick succession in the cities of Bat Yam and Holon, South of Israel's financial centre.
The bus blasts came just hours after Palestinian militant group Hamas returned four bodies purported to be hostages held in Gaza since its October 7, 2023 attack.