The plight of the Bibas family has come to embody the profound sense of loss and grief still permeating Israel.

Thousands of Israelis lined the streets to mourn the Bibases, who were taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and had become a symbol of the country’s trauma.

Israel says it has identified two of the dead bodies returned by Hamas on Thursday as Ariel and Kfir Bibas – but tests show another body that was expected to be that of their mother Shiri is not hers – and does not match any other Israeli hostage.