JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has confirmed that the hostage found dead in Gaza was Hamza Ziyadne, the son of another hostage, Youssef Ziyadne, who was found dead next to him in an underground tunnel near the southern city of Rafah.
The family of Hamza, an Israeli Bedouin who was taken hostage along with his father by Hamas-led fighters, has been informed of his death after forensic tests were completed, the Israeli military said on Friday.
It said earlier this week that the bodies of both hostages were found near those of armed guards from the Islamist group Hamas or another Palestinian militant group, adding that their deaths did not appear to be recent and it was not yet clear how they were killed.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
The recovery of their bodies comes amid renewed efforts by mediators Qatar, the US and Egypt to reach an agreement to end fighting in Gaza and free the remaining Israeli hostages before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum, an organization that represents most of the families, renewed its call for the Israeli government to strike a deal with Hamas and return the hostages, saying Youssef and Hamza could have been saved by an earlier deal.
Negotiations have been deadlocked for a year due to two key issues. Hamas said it would release its remaining hostages only if Israel agreed to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is disbanded and all hostages are freed.
Israel launched the attack on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its border 15 months ago, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave devastated and most of the territory’s people – displaced multiple times – facing acute shortages of food and medicine due to Israeli actions, humanitarian agencies say.
