Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group, said it released a body Friday that it claimed was Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas, whose misidentification had threatened the ceasefire deal.
The militant organization said it transferred the body to the Red Cross.
Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on X that Israel was looking into the claim.
"Following the reports regarding Shiri Bibas, they are currently under review," he said, adding "IDF [military] representatives are in contact with the family."
Earlier Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas will "pay the price" for failing to release the body of hostage Shiri Bibas as prescribed by the peace agreement with Israel.
In a video statement, Netanyahu said "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."
Hamas said earlier Friday that Shiri Bibas' remains appeared to have been mixed up with other human remains taken from rubble after an Israeli airstrike hit the place she was held, the Reuters News Agency reported.
The bodies of three Israeli hostages and the body of a fourth, unidentified woman, were returned to Israel on Thursday in the latest release under a ceasefire between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
Those released Thursday included the youngest captives — infant Kfir Bibas, who was 9 months old when he was kidnapped, and his 4-year-old brother, Ariel Bibas.
The body of their mother, Shiri Bibas, was also supposed to be released. But the Israeli military said the female body was not Shiri Bibas. The body does not belong to any other hostage and remains unidentified, the military said.
The Israeli military accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement.
"This is a violation of utmost severity by the Hamas terrorist organization, which is obliged under the agreement to return four deceased hostages," the military said in a statement.
The Bibas family was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Video of the abduction showed Shiri Bibas swaddling the boys in a blanket and being whisked away by armed men.
Hamas has said the boys and their mother were killed in an Israeli airstrike in November 2023. Israel never confirmed that claim. Their father, Yarden Bibas, was kidnapped separately and returned alive earlier this month.
The body of fellow Nir Oz resident Oded Lifshitz, who was 83 when he was abducted from his home, was also released Thursday.
On Saturday, six living hostages are set to be released in exchange for hundreds more Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in Gaza during the war.
Israel and Hamas are in the first phase of a ceasefire that began on January 19. Talks on the second phase are scheduled to begin this week, according to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
In other developments Friday, Israel's defense chief ordered the military to intensify activity in the West Bank following three explosions on buses in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam.
Officials said the buses were empty and no one was injured in the late Thursday blasts.
During a Friday visit to the West Bank, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told reporters he wanted to convey a clear message to terrorists.
"Yesterday's serious attempted attack against a civilian population will not deter us," he said. "We are at war against radical Islamic terrorism, and we will win here and in Gaza and everywhere."
The Israel Defense Forces reported Friday on operations this week in the West Bank conducted along with the Israeli security agency, Shin Bet, and the Israeli Border Guard.
In the report, the IDF said 90 terrorists were arrested in the West Bank in the past week and more than 15 weapons were confiscated.
Hamas killed about 1,200 people in the October 2023 attack on Israel and took about 250 people as hostages. More than half of the captives have been released in ceasefire agreements and other deals, while eight were rescued in military operations.
Israel's air and ground war killed more than 48,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says the death toll includes 17,000 militants. The offensive destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced most of its population of 2.3 million.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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