Israeli military discovered remains of two hostages, official says

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday said that Israeli forces discovered the remains of Yosef and Hamzah AlZayadni. Katz expressed his condolences to the deceased hostages’ family. He said during his time as Israel’s foreign minister, he’d grown close to Ali, who was Yosef’s brother and Hamzah’s uncle.

What happened? Palestinian militants from the terrorist group Hamas kidnapped the AlZayadnis on Oct. 7, 2023, Katz said. The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday said it had returned Yosef’s body to Israel the day before, after IDF soldiers found his remains in a tunnel in Gaza. The soldiers at that time found evidence indicating Hamzah’s life could also be in jeopardy, but the military did not indicate it had recovered his body.

The hostage advocacy group Bring Them Home Now issued a statement on Wednesday expressing its condolences to the AlZayadni family over the passing of Yosef. It said Hamzah’s fate remains uncertain, but that the worst is feared. The group is anxiously awaiting information about his status, it said. Katz and the IDF both insisted that they were doing what they could to return the remaining hostages.

Dig deeper: Read Travis K. Kircher’s discussion with former Hamas hostage Aviva Siegel about her 51 days in captivity.