Israeli soldiers recovered the body of a 53-year-old hostage in a tunnel in southern Gaza and the army was determining whether another set of remains belongs to the man’s son, the Israeli military said on Wednesday.
The discovery of Yosef AlZayadni’s body came as Israel and Hamas are considering a ceasefire deal that would free the remaining hostages and halt the fighting in Gaza.
Israel says about one-third of the remaining 100 hostages have died, but believes as many as half could be dead.
Photo: Reuters
Yosef and his son Hamzah AlZayadni were thought to still be alive before Wednesday’s announcement.
The military said it found evidence in the tunnel that raised “serious concerns” for the life of Hamzah AlZayadni, 23, suggesting that he might have died in captivity.
Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said that the circumstances behind Yosef AlZayadni’s death were being investigated.
Yosef AlZayadni and three of his children were among 250 hostages taken captive after Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023, stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people.
He had 19 children and had worked for 17 years at the dairy farm of a kibbutz that was among the communities attacked, said the Hostages Families Forum, a group representing the relatives of captives.
Yosef AlZayadni’s teenage children, Bilal and Aisha, were released along with about 100 hostages in a week-long ceasefire in November 2023.
The bodies of about three dozen hostages have been recovered in Gaza and eight hostages have been rescued.
The Hostages Families Forum said that the ceasefire deal being negotiated “comes far too late for Yosef — who was taken alive and should have returned the same way.”
“Every day in captivity poses an immediate mortal danger to the hostages,” the group said.
Yosef AlZayadni’s name appeared on a list of 34 hostages shared by a Hamas official earlier this week, who the militant group said were slated for release.
Israel said this was a list it had submitted to mediators in July last year and that it has received nothing from Hamas.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said that a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas is “very close” and he hopes “we can get it over the line” before handing over to the new US administration on Jan. 20.
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS