Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of committing a "cruel and evil" violation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement by failing to return the body of hostage Shiri Bibas.
"We will act decisively to bring Shiri home, along with all our captives - living and dead - and we will ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement," Netanyahu said.
On February 20, Hamas handed over the bodies of four hostages, including three members of the Bibas family - Shiri Bibas and her two young sons - as well as an adult captive, AFP reported.
Although the identities of the Bibas boys and the adult hostage were confirmed by Israeli forensic experts, Israeli officials said the fourth body was not that of Shiri Bibas.
Netanyahu claims it is actually that of a woman from Gaza.
"The cruelty of the Hamas monsters knows no bounds," he said.
"Not only did they kidnap the father, Yarden Bibas, the young mother, Shiri, and their two young babies in an unimaginably cynical manner, but they did not return Shiri to her young children, the little angels, but instead placed the body of a woman from Gaza in the coffin," he said.
The two boys, Kfir and Ariel, had become symbols of the hostage crisis along with their mother.
During its attack on October 7, 2023, Hamas filmed and later broadcast footage showing the kidnapping of the Bibbas family from their home near the Gaza border.
Ariel was 4 years old at the time, and Kfir was the youngest hostage at just 9 months.
Their father, who was also captured during the attack, was released earlier this month.
The elderly hostage, whose remains were recovered on 20 February, was identified as Oded Lifshitz, a veteran journalist and long-time advocate for Palestinian rights.
Palestinian militants staged a ceremony for the return of the four bodies at a former cemetery in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younes.
The repatriation of the bodies is part of the six-week initial phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which went into effect on January 19 and has so far led to the release of 19 living Israeli hostages in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinian prisoners. | BGNES