Israeli Citizen Who Was Taken To Death In Gaza, Found In Underground Tunnel

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

Hamzah's family, an Israeli Bedouin held hostage by a Hamas-led fighter and his father, had been notified of his death after forensic tests were completed, the Israeli military said Friday, January 10.

As reported by Reuters earlier this week, the bodies of the two hostages were found close to the bodies of armed guards from the Hamas Islamist group or other Palestinian militant groups. It is not clear how they were killed.

The discovery of these bodies comes amid new efforts by Qatar, US and Egyptian mediators to reach an agreement to stop fighting in Gaza and release the remaining Israeli hostages before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the organization representing most of the family, renewed its call to the Israeli government to make a deal with Hamas and repatriate the hostages.

Negotiations have been deadlocked for a year due to two major issues.

Hamas said they would only release the remaining hostages if Israel agreed to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza.

While Israel said they would not end the war until Hamas was dissolved and all hostages were released.