Ceasefire deal still on track despite uproar over fate of two child hostages and false return of their mother’s body

Israelis and Palestinians are bracing for another tense hostage, prisoner and detainee exchange on Saturday amid uproar in Israel over allegations that two child hostages were “brutally murdered” by Hamas, and the group’s failure to deliver the body of their mother, instead returning the corpse of an unidentified woman.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Friday afternoon that autopsy results and military intelligence concluded that members of Hamas “used their bare hands” to kill Ariel Bibas, four, and his 10-month-old brother, Kfir, when they were seized in October 2023.

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Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/21/israel-hamas-exchange-to-go-ahead-amid-bibas-family-outrage