Adam Boehler, President Donald J. Trump’s Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, on Thursday night, told CNN Hamas should release all the remaining hostages “or they are going to face total annihilation.”
Boehler was responding to an IDF announcement that Hamas released an anonymous body of someone who was not a hostage, and not that of Shiri Bibas. The bodies of Shiri’s two children, Ariel and Kfir, have been verified by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir, Tel Aviv.
Speaking to CNN, Boehler condemned Hamas’ decision to release the wrong body, calling it “horrific” and a “clear violation” of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
“If I were them, I’d release everybody, or they will face total annihilation,” Boehler warned.
At one point, the interviewer asked Boehler about claims that the Bibas family was killed in an airstrike. He vehemently refuted the allegation, citing evidence that Ariel and Kfir Bibas were brutally murdered while in Hamas captivity in November 2023.
Boehler questioned Hamas’s motive for what he called a cynical and horrific act, suggesting that the likely reason was the brutality of the killings—so severe that there was no body left to return.
The Bibas family has endured further heartbreak after it was confirmed that Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel would be returned to Israel in coffins. However, when the bodies were transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification, it was revealed that while Kfir and Ariel had indeed been returned, the third body was not Shiri’s but an unidentified individual.
The IDF condemned this as “a very serious violation by the Hamas terrorist organization, which is obligated by the agreement to return four deceased hostages.” The military demanded that Hamas return Shiri Bibas along with all remaining hostages.
