ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge today for what he described as a “cruel and malicious violation” of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza after authorities determined that a body released by Hamas was not the Israeli mother of two small boys promised by the militant group.

The incident raised new doubts about the future of the fragile deal that paused Israel’s 15-month siege.

In the short term however, there were indications that the deal’s next step — the release of six living Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian captives — would proceed.

In a statement today, Hamas said it would conduct a thorough review regarding the body, suggesting a possible mix-up of remains may have occurred due to Israel bombing the hostages’ location because Palestinians were also present.

Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, also announced today that it would go ahead with tomorrow’s release of the six Israeli hostages.

Hamas turned over four bodies on Thursday as part of the deal, supposed to be Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, and of Oded Lifshitz, all abducted during the October 7 2023 Hamas attack — used by the Israeli government as justification for its latest assault on Gaza.

Israeli authorities said they had positively identified the remains of the two boys and of Mr Lifshitz, but said the fourth body was not Shiri Bibas, but an unidentified woman from Gaza.

“The sacred memory of Oded Lifshitz and Ariel and Kfir Bibas will be forever enshrined in the heart of the nation,” said Mr Netanyahu, still wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

“May God avenge their blood,” he said.

Mr Netanyahu’s vow was rejected by the aunt of the Bibas children, who said Israeli officials had failed to protect them on the day of the Hamas attack and then abandoned them in captivity.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we did not receive an apology from you in this painful moment,” Ofri Bibas Levy said in a video statement released today by a group representing the families of hostages.

“We are not seeking revenge right now. We are asking for Shiri.”

The confusion over the body’s identity was a shocking twist in the saga of the Bibas family, widely viewed as a symbol of the Israeli hostages’ plight.

During the ceasefire, which began last month, Hamas has been releasing living hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian captives held in Israeli jails.

Thursday’s release marked the first time the group has returned the remains of dead hostages.

It said the Bibas family had been notified, including Yarden Bibas, Shiri’s husband and father of the two boys, taken captive separately from his wife and children and released earlier this month as part of the ceasefire deal.

Hamas has claimed Mr Lifshitz, Shiri Bibas and her sons were killed in Israeli air strikes. But Israel claims tests found that the two boys and Mr Lifshitz were killed by their captors.

Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The offensive destroyed vast areas of Gaza, reducing entire neighbourhoods to rubble. At its height, the war displaced 90 per cent of Gaza’s population.

Many have returned to their homes to find nothing left and no way of rebuilding.