JAKARTA - Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is responsible and will conduct an investigation into the announcement of the name of the Israeli hostage who died in the Gaza Strip that sparked protests from the family after Benjamin Netanyahu's Office of Israeli Prime Minister (PMO) blamed it on the military.
The Bibas family criticized PMO for confirming to reporters that their relatives were in the body of the Hamas hostage who was to be returned today.
An official at PMO blamed the army for what was considered a big mistake.
"This is a big mistake from IDF liaison officers communicating with the Bibas family, which is the result of unfavorable human error," the official said, quoted by The Times of Israel on February 20.
PMO sources said officers gave the green light so that the names were given to the press, although now it is clear that the Bibas family did not agree.
The official confirmed that officers had been asked to confirm that each family gave approval, before the publication of the names.
As previously reported, Israel has confirmed that it has received the names of the four hostages who will be repatriated from the Gaza Strip this Thursday.
PMO Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement on Wednesday, without naming, but the family has been notified.
Later, PMO announced the names of the four hostages who will be repatriated today, namely Shiri Bibas, Ariel Bibas, Kfri Bibas and Oded Lifshitz. The family is said to have been notified.
It is known that the four bodies will be taken to the Abu Kabir forensic agency for identification. Only after that the details will be released to the public.
Kfir and Ariel Bibas were nine months and four years old when they were kidnapped in the Palestinian militant group attack in October 2023.
After that, the Bibas family objected to the mention of the names of their relatives, Shiri and her two children, Kfir and Ariel, saying there had been no agreement for the announcement.
"The list that has declared Ariel and Kfir the dead victims, published by the Prime Minister's Office, which should have been approved by the family, has never been approved by us," wrote Ofri Bibas, Shiri's husband's sister, Yarden, on Facebook.
"For 16 months, we have been waiting for confirmation they can't give it to us, and now the decision was taken even before they arrived here? Before they got identification? Before we were officially notified?" he explained.
"The whole country has turned into victim officers, who knocked on our door," he said.
"Embarrassing," said Ofri.
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The IDF then claimed responsibility for the announcement of the hostages' names.
"IDF is responsible for communicating with the families of the hostages. The IDF investigated the matter and spoke with the family. We regret the mistakes made in good faith towards the family, as well as the emotional pressure caused," the military said in a statement.
It is known that Palestinian militant group Hamas is ready to start negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire with Israel. It was marked by the repatriation of the four hostages' bodies on Thursday and the release of six hostages at the weekend.
On Saturday, Hamas will release six surviving hostages: Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov, Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.
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