Trump Envoy to Hamas: Release All Hostages Now, Or 'Total Annihilation'

Will the Israelis ever get Shiri Bibas’ remains back? Adam Boehler doubts it, and believes that Hamas deliberately sent the wrong body back in the latest exchange. Why? Donald Trump’s envoy for hostage affairs assumes that the young mother’s body would show evidence of horrific treatment at the hands of her captors — just as the bodies of her babies did, much to Israel’s horror.

Boehler has a message for Hamas, too, given through CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360. Either send back all of the hostages immediately — including the remains of four Americans — or face “total annihilation”:

The remains of an Israeli mother and her two young children were expected to be released by Hamas today. U.S. Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler reacts to the shocking development that Israel says one of the four remains did not actually belong to any of the Israeli hostages. pic.twitter.com/Vus6WAgZCG

— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) February 21, 2025

COOPER: If the Israeli assessment is accurate and Shiri Bibas’s body was not handed over, would U.S. and Israeli officials view that as a violation of the ceasefire deal? Because, I mean, yes, would that be a violation besides being a horrific —

BOEHLER: It’s a clear violation —

COOPER: — I mean, just a horrific act.

BOEHLER: I mean, like you said, Anderson, it’s horrific. It’s a clear violation. And if I have one piece of advice for Hamas now, it’s not only do you need to release her body immediately, but we have the bodies of four Americans that are still there. And we have one American, Edan Alexander. I think you know his family well.

COOPER: Yes.

BOEHLER: And you’ve done a great job reporting on it. He needs to come home. And if I were them, I’d release everybody or they’re going to face total annihilation right now.

Benjamin Netanyahu sent a message overnight as well. Addressing the nation and world in English — a clear sign that this is intended for Western audiences — Netanyahu declared that the murderers of the Bibas children “do not deserve to walk this earth”:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

“Today is a tragic day. It’s a day of boundless sorrow, of indescribable pain.

Four-year-old Ariel Bibas, his baby brother one-year-old Kfir and 84-year-old Oded Lifshitz were brutally murdered by Hamas savages. pic.twitter.com/7TMchvOZ9E

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) February 21, 2025

He calls Hamas monsters for murdering the young boys, and also for sending the body of a Gazan woman back instead of Shiri yesterday “in brazen violation of the agreement.”

“Today, the heavens shake,” he says, insisting that the “entire civilized world” should condemn the murders.

Netanyahu promises to bring to justice “the savages who executed our hostages.”

“They do not deserve to walk this earth,” he says. “Nothing will stop me. Nothing.”

That sounds as though Israel won’t follow through on Phase 2 negotiations. They are, however, still cooperating in Phase 1 exchanges. Hamas gave them a list of six hostages they will release tonight (Saturday in Israel) in exchange for 602 Palestinian prisoners:

Amani Sarahneh, a spokeswoman for the NGO, tells AFP that those slated for release include 445 individuals from Gaza who were arrested after Hamas’s October 7 attack, 60 serving long sentences, 50 serving life sentences and 47 re-arrested after a 2011 exchange for captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

What about Shiri Bibas? Hamas claimed to be surprised by the news, and asked for the body back:

In a statement, Hamas says it will “examine these allegations very seriously” and announce the results of its investigation.

The Hamas statement reiterates its claim that there may have been an “error or mix up” in bodies found in the rubble of an Israeli airstrike which it said killed Shiri and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir. Israel said last night that Ariel and Kfir, whose remains were identified after being handed over, were murdered in captivity by terrorists.

Hamas calls on Israel to return to Gaza the body of the Palestinian woman that it handed over yesterday in place of Shiri.

Nonsense. The Bibas children didn’t get killed in an airstrike; they got murdered by Hamas terrorists. They know exactly what happened with Shiri Bibas and wanted to take an opportunity to conduct more psychological terror on the Bibas family and the Israelis. They are looking for ways to restart the war before they run out of hostages to trade while being able to blame the Israelis for the failure of a cease-fire they keep continually violating.

Enough is enough. This war won’t end without the utter annihilation of one of the belligerents, because the belligerent most likely to lose an all-out war keeps trying to annihilate the one who keeps cutting deals. After twenty years of this, the game should really be over, and WWII rules should apply — utter destruction or complete capitulation. The Gazans have to be forced to choose, since they keep choosing war.

Update: IYKYK.