Israeli soldiers recovered the body of Yosef AlZayadni, a 53-year-old hostage in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said Wednesday, January 8, and the army was determining if another set of remains belongs to the man's son. The military said it found evidence in the tunnel that raised "serious concerns" for the life of AlZayadni's son Hamzah, 23, suggesting he may have died in captivity. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, said the circumstances behind Yosef AlZayadni's death were being investigated.
The bodies of around three dozen hostages have been recovered in Gaza and eight hostages have been rescued by the army. Yosef AlZayadni appeared on a list of 34 hostages shared by a Hamas official earlier this week who the militant group said were slated for release. Israel said this was a list it had submitted to mediators last July, and that it has received nothing from Hamas.
The Hostages Families Forum said the ceasefire deal being negotiated "comes far too late for Yosef – who was taken alive and should have returned the same way." "Every day in captivity poses an immediate mortal danger to the hostages," the group said in a statement. The deaths of previous high-profile hostages have sparked large protests in Israel calling for a deal.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas is "very close" and he hopes "we can get it over the line" before handing over U.S. diplomacy to President-elect Donald Trump's administration later this month.
Since the beginning of the war, 45,800 Palestinians have been killed, according to the territory's Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters but says women and children make up over half the fatalities. 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. The fighting has also spilled over into the broader Middle East, including a war between Israel and Hezbollah now contained by a fragile ceasefire, and direct conflict between Israel and Iran.
Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have targeted shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year and recently ramped up missile attacks on Israel, saying they seek to force an end to the war in Gaza. And on Wednesday, the US military said it carried out a wave of strikes against underground arms facilities of the Houthi rebels.