Netanyahu says Hamas will pay for not returning Shiri Bibas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that Israel would make Hamas pay for failing to release the body of hostage Shiri Bibas as agreed.

"We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages - both living and dead - and ensure Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement," he said in a video statement.

The statement came after Israeli specialists said that one of the four bodies handed over by Hamas on Thursday was an unidentified woman and not Shiri Bibas, whose two sons, Kfir and Ariel were handed over and identified.

Netanyahu accused Hamas of acting "in an unspeakably cynical manner" by placing the body of a Gaza woman in the coffin instead of Shiri Bibas, who was kidnapped along with her two sons and her husband, Yarden, during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Hamas said on Friday the remains of Shiri Bibas may have been mixed with other human remains from the rubble after an Israeli air strike hit the place she was held in, but they will look into the claims and announce the results.

Meanwhile, Hamas said it will release Israeli hostages Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Tal Shoham, Omer Wenkert, Hisham al-Sayed and Avera Mengisto on Saturday.

Hisham al-Sayed and Avera Mengisto are civilians, who entered Gaza a decade ago and have been held there since.