08:08 – Hamas prepares release points in Rafah and Nuseirat
Hamas has cleared and erected stages in the towns of Rafah and Nuseirat in the Gaza Strip, ahead of the expected release of six living Israeli hostages within the coming hours.
Like in previous rounds, the stages are decorated with posters carrying propaganda messages.
According to reports by Al-Jazeera and the Qatari Al-Arabi channel, Tal Shoham and Avera Mengistu are to be handed over in Rafah, while Omer Shem Tov, Hisham al-Sayed, Omar Wenkert and Eliya Cohen will be released in Nuseirat.
In exchange, Israeli media reported 800 Palestinian prisoners will be released, of whom 450 will be deported to the Gaza Strip. 51 of them were serving life sentences.
The Hamas terror group has set up stages in southern Gaza’s Rafah and in the Nuseirat area in the Strip’s center for the handover today of six Israeli hostages.
As has been in previous hostage releases, the stages are plastered with propaganda posters.
Hamas is releasing this… pic.twitter.com/3ZQoWw5f5k
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 22, 2025
06:43 – Bibas family: ‘Our Shiri has returned home to her children’
The Bibas family said the IDF informed them that the body of Shiri Bibas had been returned and identified.
“Last night, our Shiri was brought back home. After the identification process at the Forensic Institute, we received the news this morning that we feared: Our Shiri was murdered in captivity, and now she has returned home to her children, her husband, her sister, and her entire family to rest.”
“Despite the fear for their fate, we continued to hope that we would be able to embrace them, and now we are in pain and shattered. For 16 months we asked for certainty, and now it brings no comfort, but we hope for the beginning of closure. Shiri was an extraordinary mother to Ariel and Kfir, a loving partner to Yarden, a dedicated sister and aunt, and an amazing friend.”
“In this difficult time, we continue to demand and call for the immediate return of the remaining hostages still in captivity. There is no more important goal than this. There will be no recovery without them.”
Details of the mourning and funeral will be shared later. Please give the family the space to process and mourn. Thank you to everyone for the support and love over these 16 months. We wish Shiri could have seen this.”
06:38 – Body of Shiri Bibas identified after overnight release from Gaza
The body of Shiri Bibas has been identified after Hamas released her to the Red Cross overnight, the IDF confirmed in the morning.
Bibas, like her two children Ariel and Kfir, was murdered in captivity by her captors, according to an official statement.
“After the completion of the identification process by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine of the Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Israel Police, IDF representatives informed the Bibas Silverman family a short time ago that their loved one, Shiri, was murdered in captivity and has been returned for burial in Israel.”
“This follows the blatant violation of the agreement by Hamas, as part of the seventh phase of returning the deceased hostages, where they delivered an anonymous body.”
“Shiri was kidnapped alive from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with her children Ariel and Kfir, and according to the assessment of professional sources, she and her children were brutally murdered in captivity during the first weeks of the war by terrorists. We share in the family’s sorrow during this difficult time,” the statement read.