Yousef Al-Ziyadnah, 53, who was kidnapped during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, was found dead in a tunnel in the Rafah area, a statement from the Israel Defense Forces said. The IDF said he had been “killed in captivity” and confirmed that the dead bodies of at least two Hamas operatives were found nearby.

A boy looks on, on the day friends and family gather at the family home of Youssef Ziyadne and his son Hamza Ziyadne, Bedouin Israeli hostages seized during the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas, in Rahat, southern Israel, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Israel has confirmed that a hostage found killed in Gaza was Hamza Ziyadne, the son of another hostage, Youssef Ziyadne, who was found dead alongside him in an underground tunnel near the southern city of Rafah.

Israeli defence minister orders military to present plan for total defeat of Hamas in Gaza if it does not release its hostages before Donald Trump’s inauguration

The body of an Israeli hostage held captive by militants in Gaza since the October 7 attack has been identified after recovery of his remains, the military said on Friday.Palestinian militants seized the Arab Bedouin father and son from Kibbutz Holit near the Gaza border during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7,

The Israeli military confirmed Friday morning that Hamas hostage Hamza Alzayadni was killed in Gaza, days after it had announced his father's body had been retrieved along with unidentified remains from a tunnel in Gaza.

Hamzah AlZaydani's body was retrieved with that of his father, Yosef AlZaydani, who were taken together by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel confirmed on Friday that a hostage found killed in Gaza was Hamza Ziyadne, the son of deceased hostage Youssef Ziyadne, whose body was found alongside him in an underground tunnel near the southern city of Rafah.

Hamza Ziyadne, 23, was abducted in the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel alongside his siblings and father, whose body was also recovered this week.