The Zyadna familyIsrael's military said its troops found the body of a Bedouin Arab held by Hamas in Gaza, as well as evidence suggesting another may also be dead.
The body of Youssef Zyadna, 53, was pulled from an underground tunnel in southern Rafah on Tuesday.
The troops also made what the military described as “findings … that raise serious concerns” for the life of his son, Hamza, 22, who was also abducted by Hamas gunmen during the October 7, 2023 attack. against southern Israel.
Two of Hamza's siblings, Aisha and Bilal, were captured with them on a kibbutz farm that day. But they were among 105 hostages released during a week-long ceasefire in November 2023.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed “deep sorrow at the bitter news that the Zayedna family received today.”
The news came shortly before US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters that US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators were “very close” to brokering a new ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Meanwhile, at least 14 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes over Gaza on Wednesday, according to medics and first responders.
The Israeli military also said it intercepted a rocket fired from southern Gaza.
Youssef Zyadna lived in a Bedouin village in Israel's southern Negev desert.
The morning of October 7, 2023. he went to work on Kibbutz Holit's dairy farm, where his three children joined him for a picnic.
They were among 251 Israelis and foreign nationals taken hostage when hundreds of gunmen led by Hamas stormed the nearby Israel-Gaza perimeter fence and killed around 1,200 other people.
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the attack. More than 45,930 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-ruled territory's health ministry.
Israel says 95 of the hostages remain in Gaza, of whom 34 are believed to be dead, as well as four other Israelis who were abducted before the war, two of whom are dead.
The Israeli military said Youssef Zayedna was “killed in captivity” and that his family had been notified following an identification procedure carried out by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and Israel Police.
Spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters that special forces found his body near the bodies of several armed guards and that it was unclear how and when he died.
“We are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding his death and are also looking into the findings regarding his son,” he said, according to Reuters.
“These findings raise concerns for his life and they are still being investigated at this time,” he added, without elaborating.
Earlier, Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote to X that the bodies of Yusef and Hamza had been found.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said: “We hoped and worked for the safe return of the four (Zyadna) family members taken hostage by Hamas.”
“We brought back the children Bilal and Aisha in November 2023. and we wanted to bring Yusef and Hamza back as well. I send my heartfelt condolences to the family.”
He also promised that Israeli security forces would “continue to make every effort to return all our hostages, alive and deceased.”
The Forum of Hostages and Missing Families, which represents the families of some hostages, lamented that a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal being discussed in Doha “comes too late for Youssef”.
“Each day in captivity poses an imminent threat of death to the hostages, who have managed to survive for 15 months, and jeopardizes the possibility of returning the deceased for burial,” it said in a statement.
EPAOn Sunday, Youssef Zayedna's name appeared on a list of 34 hostages that a senior Hamas official said the group was willing to release in the first phase of a ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli prime minister's office denied that Hamas had provided Israel with such a list, saying it was “initially handed over by Israel to intermediaries as early as July 2024.” It also said that Israel had not received confirmation whether the individuals on the list were alive or dead.
Hamas' decision to share the list with the media was seen as an attempt to increase public pressure on the Israeli government following the resumption of talks in Doha.
On Wednesday, Anthony Blinken said a potential deal was close and that he hoped to “cross the line” before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
“I believe that when we get this deal, and we will get it, it will be based on the plan that President (Joe) Biden presented to the world in May,” the US secretary of state added.
Trump's Middle East envoy, Stephen Witkoff, also told a news conference on Tuesday that “great progress” had been made in the talks and that he planned to join them.
Meanwhile, Trump repeated his threat that “all hell will break loose in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release all hostages within the next 12 days.
Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan said in response: “I think the US president should make more disciplined and diplomatic statements.”
The two sides accuse each other of impeding progress toward a deal by making unreasonable demands.
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' military and governance capabilities are eliminated and all hostages are returned home.