252 Israeli hostages were taken to Gaza when Hamas militants launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
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Israeli soldiers found the body of Youssef Alzayadni, 53, in an underground tunnel in the southern Gaza Stripand are determining whether another remains discovered are those of her son, the Israeli military said Wednesday.
Youssef Alzayadni and his son Hamzah were captured on October 7, 2023 by Hamas militants in a kibbutz in southern Israel, during an attack that left 1,200 people dead. He was a dairy cow farmer and had 19 children, said the Hostages Families Forum, a group representing parents of those captured.
Two of his other children, Bilal and Aisha, were released in a one-week ceasefire agreement in November 2023along with a hundred other hostages.
“Serious concerns” about Hamzah Alzayadni
Of the hundred hostages still held in Gaza, a third are believed to have diedsome having been killed in the initial Hamas attack and others having probably died in captivity.
The hostages are aged 1 to 86 and are said to be scattered throughout the Gaza Stripheld in apartments or in Hamas’ network of underground tunnels, described as cramped, damp and stifling by the freed hostages.
The army said it found items in the tunnel that raised concerns “serious concerns” about Hamzah Alzayadni, 23, which suggest he may have died in captivity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed sadness at the news of the death of Youssef Alzayadni and said in a statement that he had “hoped and worked to bring back the four family members from Hamas captivity”.
The Alzayadni family is part of the Bedouin community, a Palestinian minority that has Israeli citizenship. Eight members of Israel’s Bedouin minority kidnapped in October 2023 attacks.
“We expected to bring them back alive”said Talal Alkernawi, mayor of the town of Rahat where the men were from. “Instead of returning them alive to their families to raise their children, we received them dead”.
Hostage deal would be “very close,” says Antony Blinken
The return of the remaining hostages is a key element of a possible ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. The families of the hostages have put considerable pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate a pause in hostilities so their loved ones can return home.
Negotiations for a ceasefire are reportedly underway, with outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying on Wednesday that a truce and hostage deal were “very close”. He hopes a deal can be reached before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
Hostage Families Forum says ceasefire deal under negotiation “comes far too late for Youssef – who was captured alive and should have returned the same way”.
Youssef Alzayadni’s name was on a list of 34 hostages who would have been released if a deal had been reached, a Hamas official said earlier this week. Israel, on the other hand, claims that this list was submitted to mediators last July.
