The Israeli military said on Friday that Hamza Ziyadne, an Arab Israeli citizen held hostage in Gaza, was killed in the Palestinian enclave, as efforts by mediators to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas to free the hostages met with little success .
More than 15 months after the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza, around 98 hostages remain in Gaza. About 36 of them are believed to have died according to Israeli authorities.
Confirmation of Mr Ziyadne’s death comes just a day after family and friends buried his father, Youssef Ziyadne, 53, who was also taken hostage. The Israeli army said their bodies were found together in a tunnel under the southern Gaza city of Rafah, along with the dead of their captors. It is unclear when they were found.
Prior to the discovery, neither hostage had been considered presumed dead by Israeli officials, who sought to use intelligence to assess the conditions of the remaining hostages. This could further raise fears among the families of the remaining prisoners in Gaza that their relatives may already have suffered the same fate.
It was not immediately clear how the Ziyadne died: some hostages were killed in Israeli airstrikes, while Israel said others were executed by their captors. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said on Wednesday – after Youssef’s death was confirmed – that the army was still investigating.
Arab citizens of Israel, like Ziyadne, were not spared from Hamas’ attack. At least 17 were killed and many others were taken hostage. According to Israel, around 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage in the assault.
Many, like Ziyadne, belonged to the Bedouin Arab minority, a group that has long lived on the fringes of Israeli society. Historically nomadic herders, many Bedouin now reside in a constellation of towns and villages across southern Israel, some of which lack basic government services such as running water and electricity.
Hamza Ziyadne, 23, was taken hostage along with his father and two younger siblings, Bilal and Aisha, while in the Israeli kibbutz where his father worked. Bilal, 18, and Aisha, 17, were freed during a week-long truce in November 2023 in which 105 Israeli and foreign hostages – mostly women and children – were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
The Hostages Family Forum, which represents relatives of prisoners, said Hamza Ziyadne left behind his wife and two children. In a statement, the group described him as a “nature lover who had a deep affection for animals and was loved by his friends.”
“Four family members were kidnapped, only two returned alive,” the group said in a statement. “Youssef and Hamza, who survived a period of hellish captivity in Gaza, could have been saved through an earlier agreement.”
Months of efforts to bridge the gap between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release agreement have not borne fruit. Qatar and Egypt led the talks, which were also mediated by the Biden administration.
Biden said on Thursday that “real progress” was being made in the negotiations, without providing further details. Officials from all parties have repeatedly expressed optimism about a breakthrough in recent months, only to see hopes dashed days later due to new obstacles.
For months, Israel and Hamas have set seemingly irreconcilable conditions for an agreement. Hamas has called for an end to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as part of any deal to release the hostages. Israeli leaders have said they will not end the war before Hamas is destroyed in Gaza and have vowed to maintain priority security control there.
Separately, the Israeli army announced on Friday that its forces had likely killed two Israeli civilians by accident during attacks on October 7, 2023. As they tried to repel Hamas fighters who had infiltrated Nahal Oz, a kibbutz near the border with Gaza, Israeli troops allegedly killed Tomer Eliaz-Arava, 17, mistaking him for a militant.
The military investigation also found that Israeli forces later likely killed his mother, Dikla Arava, as Palestinian militants tried to kidnap her and her remaining family in Gaza that same day.
Michael D. Shear in Washington he contributed to reporting.