About 100 Israeli hostages were taken to the Gaza Strip when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
advertisementIsraeli forces have recovered the body of Yosef al-Zayadni, 53, from an underground tunnel in southern Gaza and are investigating whether other remains belong to his son, the Israeli military said Wednesday.
AlZayadni and his son Hamzah AlZayadni were captured by Hamas militants on October 7 in a kibbutz in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people. He was a dairy farmer with a total of 19 children, the Hostage Families Forum, an organization representing relatives of those captured, said.
His two other children, Bilal and Aisha, were released along with about 100 other hostages following a week-long ceasefire in November 2023.
Of the approximately 100 hostages remaining in Gaza, one-third are said to be dead, some during Hamas’ initial attack and others who were killed or died in captivity. Israel rescued eight hostages and recovered dozens of bodies.
The hostages range in age from 1 to 86 and are believed to be scattered throughout the Gaza Strip. Freed hostages say they were held in cramped, damp and suffocating places like apartments and Hamas’ underground tunnel network.
Military authorities said they found evidence in the tunnel that raised “serious concerns” for the life of Hamza al-Zayadni, 23, and suggested he may have died in captivity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed condolences at the news of al-Zayadni’s death and said in a statement that he “hoped and worked to rescue the four families of Hamas prisoners.”
The AlZayadni family are members of the Bedouin community, a Palestinian minority that holds Israeli citizenship. The October 2023 attack kidnapped eight members of Israel’s Bedouin minority.
“We expected to save them,” said Talal al-Khernawi, mayor of Rahat, where the men are from. “Instead of returning them alive to their families, we accept them dead.”
The repatriation of the remaining hostages is a key element of a potential ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Hostage families have put enormous pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate a halt to hostilities so their loved ones can return home.
Ceasefire negotiations are reportedly underway, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a ceasefire and hostage agreement are “very close.” He said he hoped an agreement could be reached before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office later this month.
The Hostage Families Forum said the ceasefire currently being negotiated “comes too late for Joseph, who was killed and should have returned in the same way.”
Yosef al-Zayadni’s name was included in a list of 34 hostages expected to be released if a hostage agreement is reached, Hamas officials shared earlier this week. Israel claimed the list was submitted to arbitrators in July.
