The body of an Israeli hostage who had been repatriated from Gaza to Israel has been identified as Hamzah Zaydani, 17, the Israeli army announced on Friday.
"After the completion of the examination process by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine and the Israeli police, army representatives this morning notified the Zaydani family that their son Hamzah, who was being held hostage in the Gaza Strip, was killed in captivity by Hamas," the army said.
The Israeli army announced on Wednesday that the body of Hamzah's father, Yosef Al Zaydani, had been repatriated after it was found in a tunnel in the Rafah area of the southern Gaza Strip.
Following unverified reports of Hamzah's death, the army confirmed today that his body had also been taken to Israel.
On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the bodies of Yosef Al Zaydani, 53, and his son Hamzah, 17, had been recovered in a raid, without giving further details. The men had been taken prisoner during the attack by the Islamist group Hamas on October 7, 2023. "We continue to do everything possible to fulfill our highest moral obligation: to return all hostages to Israeli soil, both the living and the dead," Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
The return of Zaydani's body comes as Israel and Hamas are considering a ceasefire agreement that would allow the return of the remaining 100 or so hostages and halt the fighting in Gaza. At this point, Israeli authorities believe that a third of the remaining hostages are dead, but they thought that Yosef and Hamzah Al Zaydani were still alive.
The return of the bodies of these two Hamas victims could increase pressure on Israel to move forward with a ceasefire agreement.
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