Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas on Friday of committing a "cruel and evil" violation of the Gaza ceasefire deal by failing to return the body of hostage Shiri Bibas.

"We will act with determination to bring Shiri home, along with all of our captives - both the living and the fallen - and ensure that Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement," Netanyahu said in a video statement.

Hamas on Thursday handed over bodies it said were of four hostages, including three members of the Bibas family - Shiri Bibas and her two young sons - along with an elderly captive.

While the identities of the Bibas boys and the elderly hostage were confirmed by Israeli forensic experts, the fourth body was not that of Shiri Bibas, according to Israeli officials.

Netanyahu said it was, in fact, that of a Gazan woman.

"The cruelty of the Hamas monsters knows no bounds," he said.

The two boys - Kfir and Ariel - had become symbols of the hostage crisis along with their mother.

During their attack on October 7, 2023, that triggered the Gaza war, Hamas filmed and later broadcast footage showing the Bibas family's abduction from their home near the Gaza border.

Ariel was then aged four, while Kfir was the youngest hostage at just nine months old.

Their father, who was also seized during the attack, was released earlier this month. (AFP)