It concerns 53-year-old Júsuf Zayádna, whose body was discovered by the army in an underground tunnel near the city of Rafah.
The Israeli army announced on Wednesday that it had discovered the body of another hostage taken by Hamas militants during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel in the Gaza Strip. With the statement, the army corrected the earlier announcement of Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, who spoke about the two bodies found, writes TASR according to the AFP agency.
The army reported that soldiers discovered the body of 53-year-old Yusuf Zayedna in an underground tunnel near the city of Rafah in Gaza and brought him back to Israel. Kac had previously reported that she had also found the body of Zaydna’s son, 22-year-old Hamza, but this has now been denied by the army.
Yusuf Zayedna along with his three children were kidnapped by Hamas militants from Kibbutz Cholit on October 7, 2023, The Times of Israel reports. Two of his kidnapped children, an 18-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter, were released by the militants on November 30, 2023 after more than 50 days in captivity. However, the mentioned Hamza remained in captivity.
In the tunnel where the army discovered Yusuf’s body, they also found unspecified findings linked to Hamza, as a result of which they stated that they had serious concerns for his life. In an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, Hamas commandos killed over 1,200 people and took approximately 250 others hostage to the Gaza Strip. About 100 people remain in captivity, although Israel believes that about a third of them are dead.
