Transcript of Body returned from Gaza is not Shiri Bibas, Israeli military says | BBC News

Hello, I'm Lauren Taylor. We start in the Middle East, where the Israeli military says the remains of two child hostages have been identified, but that a third body handed over yesterday is not their mother. In the past few minutes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given a television address stating Israel will act with determination to recover her body and ensure Hamas pays the full price for breaching their agreement. Hamas was due to return the remains of Shiree Bibaas, along with her children, 10-month-old Khafir and his four-year-old brother, Ariel. They were taken during the October seventh attacks. But Israel says tests on the body, supposed to be Shirey, show that it's not hers. The Israeli defense forces also claimed the children had been murdered. Hamas Hamas as they were killed in an Israeli airstrike. It accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement and demanded Shirey's return. Israel has confirmed that the fourth body returned on Thursday was that of veteran peace activist, Odeid Lipschitz. Separately, Israel's defense Minister has ordered increased offensive across the occupied West Bank after there were explosions on three empty busses which were parked close to Tel Aviv. Two more bombs were found on busses and defused.

There are no reports of any injuries. Charlotte Gallagher reports.

Shiri Bibaas and her two young sons, Ariel and Khafir, the day they were abducted from their homes. The video of the distraught mother clinging onto her two red-headed children was seen across the world. For many, they symbolized the October the seventh attacks. Hamas announced the family had died in November 2023, claiming they'd been killed in an Israeli airstrike. But it wasn't until yesterday that their remains and those of 84-year-old peace campaigner, Oded Lipschitz, were supposedly returned to Israel. Four black coffins were paraded before crowds in Gaza before being driven away by the Red Cross. It was a day many in Israel had been dreading, the return of the dead. Officials confirmed that the bodies of Mr. Lipschitz and of Ariel and Khafir have been returned to them. But they say the fourth body was not that of the his mother, Shri Bibaas. The Israeli Defense Forces say that during the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shri Bibaas, and no match was found for any other hostage. This is an anonymous, unidentified body. This is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas Terrorist Organization, which is obligated under the agreement to return four deceased hostages.

We demand that Hamas returned Shiri home, along with all our hostages. The IDF also say that forensic tests show that Shiri's sons were murdered in captivity in November 2023, not killed in an air strike. Hamas haven't commented, but there are fears for the future of the fragile ceasefire deal. For those waiting for their family members to be returned, it's agonizing.

My brother is in captivity and he's going to be released only on a second phase. That's why we as a family are doing, and other families are doing everything in our power to make sure that the second phase is happening. We're fighting both in Israel and outside Israel to make sure that people do whatever they can to make sure that my brother returns home.

Late last night, three busses exploded on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. There are no reports of injuries. Israel say it was a suspected terror attack. Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered an intensive military operation in the West Bank. The violence and fear for both Israelis and Palestinians continues. Charlotte Gallagher, BBC News.

Let's speak to our correspondence, Sebastian Asha, who's in Jerusalem. Sebastian, we mentioned that we've heard this morning from the Israeli Prime Minister. Tell us more about what has been saying.

Yes, it's a very, very strong response, as you would expect. He's saying that Israel will act with determination to bring Sharia home, along with all Israel's hostages, both alive and dead, and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for what he described as its cruel and evil violation of the agreement. He described Hamas as monsters, saying their cruelty knows no bounds, and essentially at the end of this said, We will also take revenge. That certainly raises the stakes over where the ceasefire deal goes. Now, there's also been a statement from a forum that represents the hostage families, which expresses its sorrow over the latest developments, but also stresses that the importance for them is that nothing should get in the way of making sure that the remaining hostages are released, that the process to ensure that that happens still continues. I mean, They are making that as they have time and time again, their main argument, their main priority, that whatever happens, whatever obstacles suddenly appear in the way of the ceasefire, it mustn't stop the continued release of hostages. We are expecting still for now the release on Saturday of the remaining six living hostages held in Gaza who were due to be released as part of a 33 in this first phase.

A large number of Palestinian prisoners were also due to be released on Saturday in exchange. And then next week, we are expecting the four remaining dead hostages in Gaza to be returned to Israel, and more Palestine prisoners also released. And that essentially would bring the first phase of a ceasefire to an end. The second phase in which all the hostages, alive and dead, are to be returned, and there is to be a move towards a full Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza and a move towards a permanent end to hostilities. The talks on that, which were meant to begin earlier this month, haven't started as yet. We did hear a few days ago from the Israeli foreign minister that they would start this week. We haven't seen yet any sign of that happening. So what has happened both yesterday when the bodies were returned and there was intense mourning and grief across the whole of Israel, and now what has happened overnight this shocking news, certainly for Israel, turns the whole thing on its head.

Sebastian Asha, thank you very much indeed. I'm going to speak now to Dr. Hassan Al-Hassan, a Senior Fellow for Middle East Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. And I want to talk to you in a moment about the meeting that's happening with Arab leaders about the future of Gaza in Riyadh. But first on this issue of the situation in Israel and the prospects for the ceasefire, how fragile is it now? Do you think that we'll see the continuation of this hostage and prisoner exchange deal, or do you think that it's likely to fall over, given what we've seen the last couple of days?

Well, I think it's been very fragile from the get-go. We heard Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even before the current issue around the delivery of the remains of the four hostages. During his press conference with President Trump in Washington, DC, described this as a temporary ceasefire, whereas in fact, it had been intended as paving to a permanent ceasefire. I think we know very well that there are those on the Israeli far-right who want this to be a one-phase deal whereby Israel receives the hostages and then goes back to prosecuting the war to its fullest extent. We know very well that there is a very significant chance that Netanyahu could find himself for political reasons and also by his own personal convictions, pushing in that direction. We've also and hard, Netanyahu himself, as well as senior figures from the Trump administration, talk about disarming Hamas and talk about destroying Hamas. That's obviously difficult to reconcile with the idea of a permanent ceasefire with Hamas. I think this ceasefire arrangement has been very fragile from the beginning, and I think it will take a lot of effort to make sure that it proceeds onto phase 2 and towards a permanent ceasefire.

And in the meantime, there is this Arab States meeting happening, which is in order to try and come up with a plan for the future of Gaza. What do you think? What can we expect from the meeting that's happening today?

That's right. So the meeting has been deemed an informal meeting by Saudi state media between the leaders of the Gulf states as well as Egypt and Jordan. Obviously, this is a preparatory meeting ahead of the emergency Arab Summit that's due to be held in Cairo on March Which, fourth. Now, what we can expect from this meeting, being an informal meeting, is I suspect that Saudi Crown Princess, Mohamed bin Salman, who's been holding intense discussions with the Americans over the past few days, over the issues of Gaza and Ukraine. I expect that he will probably fill in the Arab leaders ahead of the Emergency Arab Summit on what these discussions have reached by way of of potentially bridging the gap in positions between the United States and the Arab countries. Let's remember that Riyadh, the Saudi capital, has hosted several members of the Trump administration, including Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor, Walsh, on multiple occasions, Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, Whitkoff. I think there's been an attempt at bridging the gap between Trump's proposal for the ethnic cleansing and annexation of Gaza with the Arab rejection of any mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

Dr. Al-hassan, thank you very much indeed. We have to leave it there. Thank you very much.