Israeli troops recover remains of hostage and check identity of second body

Israeli forces have recovered the body of a hostage held in Gaza, adding that it was identifying additional remains that could belong to another captive held in the war-torn enclave.

The military said it recovered the body of Yosef AlZayadni, 53, from an underground tunnel during an operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

It said it found evidence that raised “serious concerns” for the life of Mr AlZayadni’s son Hamzah, who was also taken captive on October 7 2023, suggesting he may have died in captivity.

The body’s recovery comes as Israel and Hamas are considering a ceasefire deal that would free the hostages and halt the fighting in Gaza.

Israel believes at least a third of the remaining 100 hostages are dead. However, Yosef and Hamzah AlZayadni were believed to still be alive before Wednesday’s announcement, and news about their fate could ramp up pressure on Israel to move ahead on a deal.

Yosef AlZayadni’s name was on a list of 34 hostages shared by a Hamas official with The Associated Press earlier this week that the militant group said were slated for release.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz had said earlier on Wednesday that troops recovered the bodies of both Yosef and Hamzah AlZayadni.

Mr AlZayadni and his son, along with two of his other children, were taken captive during Hamas’s attack on southern Israel in October 2023, among 250 hostages snatched by the militant group.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed sorrow and said in a statement he had “hoped and worked to bring back the four members of the family from Hamas captivity”.

Many families of hostages say the continuation of the war in Gaza puts the lives of the remaining hostages at risk. They have demanded throughout the conflict that Israel reach a deal with Hamas to free their loved ones.

Mr AlZayadni, who had 19 children, had worked at the dairy at southern Israel’s Kibbutz Holit for 17 years, said the Hostages Family Forum, a group representing the families of captives.

Mr AlZayadni was kidnapped with three of his children. His teenage children, Bilal and Aisha, were released in a week-long ceasefire deal in November.

The family were 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 marginalisation. 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 7 2023 attacks.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has since killed over 45,800 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. 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.

Fresh Israeli air strikes killed at least five people in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, 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 the Al-Aqsa Martyrs 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.

An Associated Press journalist saw the four bodies in the hospital mortuary.

In Gaza City, an air strike hit a home in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, killing a three-week-old baby, according to the Health Ministry’s emergency service.