The Israeli army confirmed on Friday that one of the bodies recovered from Gaza earlier this week was that of 23-year-old hostage Hamzah AlZayadni.
His body, along with that of his father Yosef AlZayadni, was recovered from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area. The pair were believed to have been brought together when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel 15 months ago. His father was quickly identified while his son’s remains were sent for verification.
The army said Friday that the identification was made by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and that Israeli police and the family had been notified.
The Hostages Families Forum, which represents families of hostages captured in the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, said Hamzah was a nature lover who had a deep affection for animals and was loved by his friends. He leaves behind a wife and two children.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas, although the group’s armed wing told news channel Al Jazeera that most of the hostages in the northern Gaza Strip are now missing due to intense Israeli attacks there.
The left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Israeli military had expressed suspicions that Hamza and Josef were killed in one of their attacks because their bodies were found next to those of dead militants. A military spokesman said this week that Josef did not die recently.
The military declined to comment on the hostages’ cause of death.
Journalist killed in central Gaza
Israeli forces continued bombing Gaza on Friday. Palestinian medics said at least 15 people were killed, including a journalist from the Cairo-based Al-Ghad television station who was reporting on an incident in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip.
There was no immediate comment on the recent fighting from the Israeli military.
The Gaza Strip Health Ministry said Thursday that 46,006 Palestinians have been killed and 109,378 injured in the Israel-Hamas war, with no end in sight. More than half of the fatalities were women and children, but the ministry made no distinction between fighters and civilians when it came to the number of fatalities.
Israel says it has carried out airstrikes on dozens of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, killing nearly 100 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The Israeli military says it has killed more than 17,000 militants without providing evidence. She blames Hamas for civilian deaths because she says militants operate in residential areas.
Israel’s air and ground operations have driven hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into sprawling tent camps along the coast, where access to food and other essential supplies is limited.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250.
Israel says about a third of the remaining 100 hostages have died, but believes up to half could be dead. Their fate could increase pressure on Israel to move forward with a deal.
Ceasefire negotiations are still at an impasse
Mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt are making new efforts to reach an agreement to end fighting in Gaza and release the remaining hostages before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
On Friday, the Forum for Hostages and Missing Families renewed its call for the Israeli government to strike a deal with Hamas and return the hostages, saying Yosef and Hamzah could have been saved through an earlier agreement.
Negotiations have been at an impasse for a year over two key issues. Hamas has said it will release its remaining hostages only if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is crushed and all hostages are free.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday ordered the military to come up with a plan for the “total defeat” of Hamas in Gaza if it does not release the hostages before Trump’s inauguration. It was not clear how such a plan would differ from existing Israeli military plans.
“We must not be drawn into a war of attrition against Hamas in Gaza while the hostages remain in the tunnels, risking their lives and suffering greatly,” he told senior commanders, according to a defense ministry statement.
