On 28 January 2025, a group supporting the family asked for the public to wear orange in honor of the family. Israeli officials asked on 29 January that Hamas provide more information on the condition of Shiri Bibas and the two children.
Release of Yarden Bibas Hamas released Yarden Bibas on 1 February, as part of the fourth round of releases in the
January 2025 Gaza war ceasefire agreement. He had spent 484 days in captivity. His family thanked the Israeli public for its support and concern, saying that although he had lost a significant amount of weight, he was in good spirits and physically stable.
Return of the bodies of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas colored in orange uploaded to the official Twitter account of the
State of Israel on the day of the return of their bodies The status of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas was unclear at the time of Yarden Bibas's release, although they had not been included in earlier releases that prioritized living women and children. On 18 February, a Hamas spokesperson announced that the bodies of four hostages, including the remaining members of the Bibas family, would be released on 20 February, as part of the seventh round of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement. On 20 February, Hamas released four bodies, reported to be of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas, and a fourth hostage,
Oded Lifshitz, who had also been kidnapped during the Nir Oz attack. The handover was performed as a two-step process, with the first step being a handover of coffins from Hamas to the Red Cross, and the second involving a handover from the Red Cross to the IDF. In the first step, the four coffins were brought to a stage in
Khan Yunis, wrapped in black with labels bearing the deceased family members' names and pictures. They were placed before a poster that portrayed Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu as a
vampire, with the four deceased superimposed. The poster blamed Netanyahu and Israel for their deaths. In the second step, a rabbi conducted a ceremony upon receipt of the coffins and they were transported into Israel draped in Israeli flags. Israeli citizens lined the roads near the Gaza border to watch the convoy and pay their respects, as well as gathering in
Hostages Square. Israel screened the coffins through metal detectors to ensure they were not booby-trapped. Upon opening the coffins, investigators reportedly discovered Hamas propaganda, which Israel considered "a desecration of the sanctity of the dead". Israel filed a complaint with Egypt, Qatar and the United States, who helped negotiate the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. The four bodies were taken to the
Abu Kabir Forensic Institute for identification. Israel forensically confirmed the bodies of Ariel and Kfir Bibas and Lifshitz, but it also confirmed that the fourth body did not match Shiri Bibas or any other Israeli hostage held by Hamas. Hamas acknowledged the possibility of a mistake, adding that corpses had been "mixed up" due to Israeli bombings. Hamas acknowledged "seriousness and full commitment to all our obligations" and said it remained committed to compliance. It handed over Shiri Bibas's remains separately the following day.
Cause of death Hamas and Israel have made conflicting claims about the deaths of Shiri Bibas and her children. Hamas claims that they were killed in an Israeli airstrike, while Israel claims they were murdered with bare hands by Hamas. IDF spokesperson
Daniel Hagari stated: "The terrorists did not shoot the two young boys — they killed them with their bare hands. Afterward, they committed horrific acts to cover up these atrocities.” Neither side has publicly provided any evidence to substantiate their claims, although Israel said that it had shared evidence with its international partners. Israeli politician
Benny Gantz said in June 2024 that Israel was aware then of the fate of the Bibas family and the public would be informed "when things come to fruition." Following the return of the remains, Israel stated that a forensic analysis showed that Ariel and Kfir Bibas had been killed with "bare hands" in November 2023. and that the corpses had been mutilated to make it appear as if they died in a bombing. The Bibas family sent a
cease-and-desist letter to Israeli government officials, demanding that they stop publicly disclosing details of the deaths beyond those already approved by Yarden Bibas.
Funeral of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas took place on 26 February 2025. Thousands of Israelis lined the route of the funeral procession, which began at a funeral home in
Rishon LeZion in central Israel and ended at the regional cemetery in
Tzohar in southern Israel, near the kibbutz where the Bibas family lived. Eulogies were broadcast on Israeli television, streamed over the Internet, and shown on large screens in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square. On the day of the funeral, monuments around the world—including the
Empire State Building, the
Brandenburg Gate, and the
Chain Bridge in Budapest—were illuminated in orange as a tribute to the deceased.
Public responses Following the release of the bodies of Ariel and Kfir,
Isaac Herzog, the
President of Israel, issued a statement saying that the "hearts of an entire nation line in tatters" and spoke directly to the deceased stating that he bowed his head and asked for forgiveness in not protecting them or bringing them home safe. Buenos Aires council member Yamil Santoro proposed renaming "Palestine Street" to "Bibas Family Street". President Milei expressed support for the proposal, but others suggested renaming a park, rather than Palestine Street, as a tribute to the Bibas family. The Arab-Israeli group Atidna condemned Hamas following the alleged murders of Shiri Bibas and her two children, describing the crime as "an act of barbarism that has no justification". The group called on Arab-Israeli political leaders to denounce terrorism, emphasizing, "At such a crucial moment, silence is not an option—our duty as leaders and as a society is to speak out clearly and firmly against murder and terror". It declared that it would participate in the Bibas family funeral procession, stating, "We will declare in one united voice: No to terror, no to murder, yes to life and humanity". On 25 February 2025, during a
United Nations Security Council address,
Dorothy Shea, the
acting ambassador of the United States to the United Nations, condemned Hamas for murdering Shiri Bibas and her children and mishandling Shiri Bibas's body. In response to a question about whether Hamas was responsible for the deaths of the children,
Rima Hassan, a French
Member of the European Parliament, responded "would there have been Hamas and, in particular, the
attacks of the 7th, if there had not been an illegal occupation and an illegal blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for decades?", suggesting that those were the reasons for the deaths. On April 4, 2025, the
Academy of the Hebrew Language announced that it was changing the official Hebrew name of the butterfly species
Melitaea ornata from
Kitmit Yerushalayim (Orange Jerusalem) to
Kitmit Ariel (Orange Ariel) in memory of Ariel Bibas. Ariel is also one of the biblical names of
Jerusalem. ==Retaliation by Israel==