Israeli military says body of Bedouin hostage recovered from Gaza
Ziadna familyThe Israeli military says its forces have discovered the body of a Bedouin Arab hostage held by Hamas in Gaza and there is evidence that another person may also be dead.
The body of Yousef Zyadna, 53, was found in an underground tunnel in the southern region of Rafah on Tuesday.
Troops also made what the military said were “findings … that raise serious concerns” over the life of his 22-year-old son Hamza, who was also killed by Hamza during an attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Mas gunmen kidnap.
Hamza’s two siblings, Aisha and Bilal, were arrested with them at the kibbutz farm that day. But they were among 105 hostages released during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “deeply saddened by the painful news the Zadner family received today.”
The news came shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators were “very close” to brokering a new ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Meanwhile, Israeli air strikes in Gaza on Wednesday killed at least 14 Palestinians, according to medics and first responders.
The Israeli military also said it intercepted a rocket fired from southern Gaza.
Yousef Zyadna lives in a Bedouin village in the Negev Desert in southern Israel.
On the morning of October 7, 2023, he went to work at the Howlett Kibbutz Dairy Farm and went for a picnic with his three children.
They were among 251 Israelis and foreigners taken hostage when hundreds of Hamas-led gunmen stormed through the nearby Israel-Gaza border fence and killed about 1,200 people.
In response to the attack, Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas. Since then, more than 45,930 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Israel says 95 hostages remain in Gaza, 34 of whom are presumed dead, and four hostages abducted before the war, two of whom have died.
The Israeli military said Yusuf Ziadna was “killed in captivity” and notified his family after identification procedures were carried out by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and Israeli police.
Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters that special forces found his body near the bodies of several armed guards and it was unclear how or when he died.
“We are currently investigating the circumstances of his death and we are also looking into the findings regarding his son,” he said, according to Reuters.
“The findings raise fears for his life, which is still being examined,” he added, without giving any details.
Earlier, Defense Secretary Israel Katz wrote on X that the bodies of both Yousef and Hamza had been recovered.
“We hope and work hard for the safe return of four members of Zadna’s family who are being held hostage by Hamas,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said.
“We returned our children Bilal and Aisha in November 2023 and hope to bring back Yousef and Hamza as well. My heartfelt condolences to their families.”
He also pledged that Israeli security forces would “continue to make every effort to repatriate all our hostages, living and dead.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families of some of the hostages, regretted that a potential ceasefire and hostage release agreement being discussed in Doha “comes too late for Yousef”.
“Every day in captivity poses an immediate mortal danger to the hostages who have survived for 15 months and threatens the possibility of the deceased’s return for burial,” a statement said.
USEPAOn Sunday, a senior Hamas official said that Hamas was willing to publish a list of 34 hostages, including the name of Yousef Zyadna, during the first phase of a ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office denied that Hamas provided such a list to Israel, saying that the list “was originally passed on to intermediaries by Israel as early as July 2024.” The statement also said that Israel has not yet received confirmation of the survival of those on the list.
Hamas’ decision to share the list with the media as talks resume in Doha is seen as an attempt to increase public pressure on the Israeli government.
Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that a potential deal was nearing completion and that he hoped to “get it done” before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
The US secretary of state added: “I am confident that when we get to this deal, which we will get, it will be based on the plan that President Biden presented to the world in May.”
Trump’s Middle East envoy Stephen Witkopf also said at a press conference on Tuesday that the talks had made “a lot of progress” and that he planned to join them.
At the same time, Trump once again threatened that “hell will break out in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release all hostages within the next 12 days.
Hamas official Osama Hamdan responded: “I think the president of the United States must make a more disciplined and diplomatic statement.”
Both sides accuse the other of making unreasonable demands and hindering progress towards an agreement.
Hamas wants Israel to agree to a permanent ceasefire and a full withdrawal from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities are destroyed and all hostages are brought home.
