Hamas denies Israeli claims about killing of Bibas children
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Hamas denied Israeli accusations that its fighters killed Kfir and Ariel Bibas while in captivity in Gaza, calling the claims "pure lies" meant to deflect responsibility from the Israeli military.
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A Hamas fighter takes up a position ahead of handing over four bodies to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025 (AP)
Hamas on Friday rejected Israeli accusations that the movement was responsible for the deaths of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, two Israeli children who were among the captives held in Gaza. The two were killed inside the blockaded strip, and their bodies were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross under a ceasefire agreement.
The movement dismissed the Israeli claims as "pure lies" and an attempt to "evade responsibility for the army’s role in the family's death."
Israeli occupation forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated on Friday that "Kfir and Ariel were killed in cold blood, not by gunfire but by hand."
In response, Hamas issued a statement rejecting the allegations, calling them "nothing but pure lies that add to a long series of fabrications spread by the Israeli military spokesperson over the past 15 months in the context of the genocide against our Palestinian people."
The statement continued, "This is a desperate attempt to evade responsibility for its criminal army’s role in the family's death, alongside its other crimes against detainees in Gaza."
Hamas accused the Israeli military and its media outlets of trying to "divert global public attention from their brutal crimes, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and massacres committed against unarmed civilians and all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip, only for the world to later uncover the falsehood of their narratives and the horror of their crimes against humanity."
Moreover, the al-Qassam Brigades announced on Friday that they had handed over the remains of Israeli captive Shirin Bibas, who died in Gaza, to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
"We handed over the remains of the Israeli hostage to them [ICRC]," Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida told Al-Aqsa TV.
Hamas hands over killed captives
On Thursday, Palestinian Resistance factions handed over the bodies of four captives in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, to the International Red Cross, marking the first part of today's exchange deal.
Hundreds of Resistance fighters from the military wings of Palestinian factions took part in the ceremony to hand over the bodies of the four occupation captives east of Khan Younis. Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu withdrew his participation in the ceremony to receive the bodies of the four Israeli captives."
Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that the commander of the Eastern Battalion of the al-Qassam Brigades in Khan Younis was also present at the Khan Younis ceremony.
On Wednesday, al-Qassam spokesperson Abu Obeida stated that the bodies of the Bibas family and the remains of captive Oded Lifshitz would be handed over, emphasizing that they were all alive before Israeli military aircraft deliberately bombed their locations in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the military spokesperson for the al-Quds, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement, Abu Hamza, announced the decision to release the remains of Lifshitz, also asserting that Israeli forces intentionally killed him during the war on Gaza.
We saved the lives of the occupation captives, but their army killed them
At the same time, Hamas confirmed that the al-Qassam Brigades and the resistance "were careful, during the ceremony of handing over the bodies of the prisoners, to respect the sanctity of the dead and the feelings of their families, despite the occupation army not respecting their lives while they were alive."
Hamas added, "We preserved the lives of the Israeli captives, provided them with what we could, and treated them humanely, but their army killed them along with their captors."
The movement emphasized that "the Zionist enemy army killed its prisoners by bombing their detention centers, and the Nazi occupation government bears full responsibility for repeatedly obstructing the exchange agreement."
Hamas stated: "The criminal Netanyahu is crying today over the bodies of his prisoners who returned to him in coffins, in a blatant attempt to evade responsibility for their killing before his supporters."
The movement stressed that "the exchange is the only way to return the prisoners alive to their families, and any attempt to retrieve them by military force or return to war will only result in more losses among the prisoners."
