The body of a woman who was presumed to have been one of four slain hostages murdered in cold blood by Hamas and handed over to Israel this week was allegedly turned over by the terror group on Friday.  

Hamas handed over a coffin allegedly carrying the remains of Shiri Bibas to the Red Cross.The coffin was then turned over to Israeli authorities, who will transport it to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine for identification. 

The development follows Israel’s demand for the return of Bibas’ body after discrepancies were found in a previous transfer on Thursday. 

Bibas was initially believed to have been one of four hostages handed over to Israel on Thursday, following confirmation by Hamas. However, Israel’s National Institute of Forensic Medicine could only verify the identities of her two children.  

It was discovered that the body in a coffin bearing Shiri Bibas’ name and photo was an unidentified woman, and not the kidnapped mother of two, causing widespread outrage in Israel. 

The two children were identified as Ariel and Kfir Bibas, ages four and ten months, who were killed by Hamas terrorists with their bare hands, Israel said. The fourth body was not identified but was believed to be Oded Lifshitz, a retired journalist and activist.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was in contact with the Bibas family.

‘For months, we prayed for the Bibas babies to come home. Yesterday, our worst nightmare was confirmed,’ IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said, ‘Kfir and Ariel were murdered in cold blood. The terrorists didn’t shoot them—they killed them with their bare hands. Then, they committed horrific acts to cover up their crimes.’

In response to the findings, the Hostages and Missing Families forum said it was ‘shaken to the core by the horrifying findings.’

‘This barbaric act is yet another undeniable testament to the unfathomable brutality of those who continue to hold our loved ones captive,’ the group said in a statement. ‘The very same hands that slaughtered Ariel and Kfir are the ones keeping our fathers, mothers, sons and daughters in unimaginable conditions.’

‘Today is a tragic day,’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday. ‘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.’

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said that Hamas ‘continues to violate every basic moral value,’ even after the death of the two children. 

‘Instead of returning Shiri, the mother of Kfir and Ariel, Hamas returned an unidentified  body, as if it were a worthless shipment. This is a new low, an evil and cruelty with no parallel,’ he added.

The young boys and their mother were abducted from their home by Hamas terrorists during the terror group’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack. Yarden Bibas, Ariel and Kfir’s father, tried to protect them and was abducted prior to the kidnapping of his wife and children, the IDF said.

Yarden returned as part of the agreement for the return of the hostages on Feb. 1. Netanyahu said that Hamas will pay ‘the full price’ for not following through with returning Shiri Bibas’ body.

‘God will save their blood, and we will take revenge, too,’ he said. 

Fox News’ Yonat Friling contributed to this report. 

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday said the Jeffrey Epstein client list is ‘sitting on my desk right now’ and she is reviewing the JFK and MLK files as well after President Donald Trump’s earlier directives. 

‘It’s sitting on my desk right now to review,’ Bondi told ‘America Reports’ host John Roberts on Friday. ‘That’s been a directive by President Trump.’

Bondi also stated she is ‘reviewing’ the JFK and MLK files, which the president signed an executive order to declassify at the start of his second term. 

‘That’s all in the process of being reviewed, because that was done at the directive of the president from all of these agencies,’ Bondi said. 

When asked if she had ‘seen anything,’ Bondi responded, ‘Not yet.’

Trump’s return to the Oval Office came with the prospect of the public finally being able to see Epstein’s long-awaited ‘black book’ amid inquiries into the deceased financier and sex trafficker.  

Epstein, a 66-year-old millionaire financier with a private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands and mansions around the country, died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Bondi herself advocated for the release of the Epstein list in 2024, telling Sean Hannity at the time, ‘It should have come out a long time ago.’ 

Shortly after kicking off his second term, Trump signed an executive order to declassify files on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. 

‘Everything will be revealed,’ Trump told reporters as he signed the order in the Oval Office.

Trump had previously promised on the campaign trail to declassify the documents upon entering his second term, saying at the time, ‘When I return to the White House, I will declassify and unseal all JFK assassination-related documents. It’s been 60 years, time for the American people to know the TRUTH!’

Earlier this month, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the attorney general reached their deadline to release their proposed plan for the declassification of the JFK files. 

The FBI announced shortly thereafter that it had uncovered thousands of records connected to the JFK assassination. Axios initially reported that the agency had released 2,400 records tied to the Nov. 22, 1963, assassination of Kennedy, which were not provided to the board that reviewed and disclosed the files.

It was upon DNI’s plan submission to release the files that it reportedly disclosed the records’ existence. 

Fox News confirmed at the time with a person familiar with the records that the files were uncovered during the review.

Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Patrick Ward contributed to this report. 

After being confirmed by the U.S. Senate, President Donald Trump’s new FBI Director Kash Patel is not wasting any time in taking the reins at the country’s top investigative agency, which has been marred by recent scandals and a breakdown in public trust.

Even before being sworn in to begin his 10-year term later this afternoon, Patel will be spending the day meeting with his new staff at the FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover Building.

Patel has previously said that he would shut down the FBI building on day one. Though there is no indication that Patel plans to do that today, he is expected to make some changes. These include moving agents and other employees into the field and working to instill transparency between the agency and the public.

In his first statement to Fox News post-confirmation, Patel said that his mission is clear: ‘Let good cops be cops—and rebuild trust in the FBI.’

Patel was confirmed Thursday afternoon in a narrow 51-49 vote in the Senate. He faced staunch opposition from Democrats who accused him of wanting to reform the FBI for the sake of political interests.

Rank-and-file agents, however, have expressed to Fox that they agree change is needed, but many are waiting to see how far Patel will go.

The FBI under the Biden administration’s leadership has faced repeated scandals over the last four years. 

Among those was when former FBI Director Christopher Wray faced backlash amid the attempted assassination against Trump when he appeared before the House Judiciary Committee and cast doubt on whether the president was struck by a bullet or just shrapnel. 

In January 2023, conservative lawmakers slammed an internal FBI memo from the Richmond field office titled ‘Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical-Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost Certainly Presents New Mitigation Opportunities.’

The memo identified ‘radical-traditionalist Catholic[s]’ as potential ‘racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists’ and said that ‘racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) in radical-traditionalist Catholic (RTC) ideology almost certainly presents opportunities for threat mitigation through the exploration of new avenues for tripwire and source development.’

The DOJ and FBI were also heavily criticized by parents nationwide in 2021 when Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memo directing the FBI to use counterterrorism tools related to parents speaking out at school board meetings against transgender-related issues and critical race theory curricula.

Speaking at CPAC on Thursday night, Elon Musk said that he is hopeful Patel will get to the bottom of the assassination attempt, earning cheers from the crowd.

After being confirmed, Patel said that the ‘politicization of our justice system has eroded public trust—but that ends today.’

‘American people deserve an FBI that is transparent, accountable, and committed to justice,’ Patel said. ‘Working alongside the dedicated men and women of the Bureau and our partners, we will rebuild an FBI the American people can be proud of. And to those who seek to harm Americans—consider this your warning. We will hunt you down in every corner of this planet. Mission First. America Always. Let’s get to work.’

Patel will be sworn in as the ninth director of the FBI outside the Hoover Building at 4 p.m. on Friday. Vice President JD Vance is expected to be present for the swearing-in ceremony. 

Fox News Digital politics reporter Emma Colton contributed to this report.