Tia Goldenberg & Melanie Lidman
AP / January 8, 2025
JERUSALEM – Israeli soldiers recovered the body of a 53-year-old hostage in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said Wednesday, and the army was determining if another set of remains belongs to the man’s son.
The discovery of Yosef AlZayadni’s body comes as Israel and Hamas are considering a ceasefire deal that would free the remaining hostages and halt the fighting in Gaza. Israel says about a third of the remaining 100 hostages have died, but believes as many as half could be dead.
Yosef and his son Hamzah AlZayadni were thought to still be alive before Wednesday’s announcement, and news about their fate could ramp up pressure on Israel to move forward with a deal.
The military said it found evidence in the tunnel that raised “serious concerns” for the life of Hamzah AlZayadni, 23, suggesting he may have died in captivity. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, said the circumstances behind Yosef AlZayadni’s death were being investigated.
AlZayadni and three of his children were among 250 hostages taken captive after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people.
AlZayadni had a total of 19 children and had worked for 17 years at the dairy farm of a kibbutz that was among the communities attacked, said the Hostages Families Forum, a group representing the relatives of captives. AlZayadni’s teenage children, Bilal and Aisha, were released along with about 100 hostages in a weeklong ceasefire in November 2023.
The bodies of around three dozen hostages have been recovered in Gaza and eight hostages have been rescued by the army.
The Hostages Families Forum said the ceasefire deal being negotiated “comes far too late for Yosef — who was taken alive and should have returned the same way.”
“Every day in captivity poses an immediate mortal danger to the hostages,” the group said in a statement. The deaths of previous high-profile hostages have sparked large protests in Israel calling for a deal.
Yosef AlZayadni’s name appeared on a list of 34 hostages shared by a Hamas official with The Associated Press earlier this week, who the militant group said were slated for release. Israel said this was a list it had submitted to mediators last July, and that it has received nothing from Hamas.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas is “very close” and he hopes “we can get it over the line” before handing over U.S. diplomacy to President-elect Donald Trump’s administration later this month.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed sorrow at the news of AlZayadni’s death, and said in a statement he had “hoped and worked to bring back the four members of the family from Hamas captivity.” Defense Minister Israel Katz initially said the bodies of both Yosef and Hamzah AlZayadni had been recovered, but the military said the some of the remains were not yet identified.
The AlZayadni family are members of the Bedouin community, part of Israel’s Palestinian minority who have Israeli citizenship. The traditionally nomadic community is particularly impoverished in Israel and has suffered from neglect and marginalization. Palestinians make up some 20% of Israel’s 10 million population, and millions more live in Gaza and under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank.
Eight members of Israel’s Bedouin minority were abducted in the October 2023 attacks.
“We expected to bring them back alive,” said Talal Alkernawi, mayor of the city of Rahat where the men were from. “Instead of returning them alive to their families, to raise their children, we receive them dead.”
Many families fear their loved ones’ fate is at risk as long as the war in Gaza rages on. Israeli forces are pressing their air and ground war against Hamas, and Palestinian health officials said Israeli airstrikes killed at least nine people in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, including three infants — among them a 1-week-old — and two women. Israel’s military says it only targets militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians.
The war has killed over 45,800 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters, but says women and children make up over half the fatalities. The military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Israel has destroyed vast areas of the impoverished territory and displaced some 90% of its population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
The fighting has also spilled over into the broader Middle East, including a war between Israel and Hezbollah now contained by a fragile ceasefire, and direct conflict between Israel and Iran.
Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have targeted shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year and recently ramped up missile attacks on Israel, saying they seek end to the war in Gaza. And on Wednesday, the U.S. military said it carried out a wave of strikes against underground arms facilities of the Houthi rebels.
Melanie Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel
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Bodies of two hostages captured in October 7 attacks recovered by Israeli forces
Holly Evans
The Independent / January 8, 2025
Yosef al-Zaydani and his son Hamzah were recovered in an operation in Gaza
The bodies of two Israeli hostages have been recovered by troops in Gaza, Israel’s defence minister has said.
Israel Katz said the bodies of Yosef al-Zaydani and his son Hamzah [members of the Bedouin community] were recovered in an operation, without disclosing further details.
The men were taken captive during Hamas’s attack on 7 October 2023.
The return of the two bodies comes as Israel and Hamas are considering a ceasefire deal that would free the remaining 100 or so hostages and halt the fighting in the besieged enclave.
Israel believes a third of the remaining hostages are dead, while a number have been previously freed through negotiated deals. However, Yosef and Hamzah al-Zaydani were believed to still be alive and their bodies’ return could ramp up the pressure on Israel to move ahead on a deal.
The news came as fresh Israeli airstrikes killed at least five people in the Gaza Strip, including two infants and a woman, Palestinian medics said.
One strike hit a home in the central city of Deir al-Balah, killing two men and a woman, according to Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital, which received the casualties.
The hospital said it also received a four-month-old boy who was killed in a strike on his family house in the nearby built-up Bureij refugee camp.
In Gaza City, an airstrike hit a home in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, killing a three-week-old baby, according to the Health Ministry’s emergency service.
Israel’s military says it only targets militants, who they say are hiding among civilians.
Several rounds of talks mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar have failed to produce a lasting ceasefire, despite the parties expressing repeated optimism about procuring a deal.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting around 250.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed more than 45,800 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
It does not say how many were fighters but says women and children make up over half the fatalities.
The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Holly Evans is a news reporter based in London
