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The Israeli military said Wednesday that it had found and recovered the remains Youssef Ziyadne, a 53-year-old Bedouin man who was taken by Hamas fighters on Oct. 7. It"s not clear exactly when his body was found, how he died, or how long he had been dead.
The episode followed the familiar cycle of hope and despair that has whipsawed Israel"s hostage families - and defined the ceasefire negotiations - for the past 15 months. Even now, as U.S. and Arab mediators push for a deal before President-elect Donald Trump"s inauguration on Jan. 20, few hostage families have any faith left in the process. And the case of the Ziyadnes, they say, only sharpened the agonizing, long-standing question of how many of their loved ones are still alive.
Early Monday, Mazin Abu Sian, a close friend of the Ziyadne family, saw the list of hostages published in an Arabic-language news outlet and forwarded it excitedly to Youssef"s brother Nawaf. Less than 72 hours later, he received word that Youssef"s remains had been found in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza.
"We had hope that we would finally see Youssef; it is a funeral for him instead," said Abu Sian, sitting Thursday in a tent where dozens of male relatives mourned in near-silence. He dismissed the chances of an imminent deal and described reports of progress as a "drama" perpetuated by both Israeli and Hamas leaders.
"We"ve heard about ceasefire-and-hostages several times already," he said bitterly, "and nothing has happened."
On Friday, the Israeli military confirmed that it had also identified the remains of Youssef Ziyadne"s son, 22-year-old Hamza. Of the 100 or so hostages still held in Gaza, about 60 are believed to be alive, according to Israeli and U.S. officials, who acknowledge they do not know the exact figure.
A Hamas official told The Washington Post this week that Israel has been demanding information on whether hostages are dead or alive, but that the militant group would not divulge that information.
"Nothing comes free in negotiations," the Hamas official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. Hamas has said it would be able to ascertain the status of each hostage only if fighting in Gaza were paused for several days.
U.S. officials and Trump"s incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, have said that the first phase of a three-phase deal, currently being hammered out in talks in Qatar, would involve 34 living hostages being released over a 42-day ceasefire in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
The remaining captives and bodies would be turned over in a second phase whose terms - including the withdrawal of Israeli military forces from Gaza - are still not settled.
The release of the 34 names this week to the Saudi outlet Asharq News and the BBC roiled Israeli society. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu"s office quickly dismissed the list as an outdated one that was presented to Hamas in July as part of negotiations that ultimately collapsed. But the Hamas official said the list was current and contained 11 new names, with 14 from July removed. It"s unclear how the discovery of the Ziyadnes this week will affect the talks.
Four members of the Ziyadne family were kidnapped on Oct. 7 from Kibbutz Holit, where Youssef was working in a hotel a few hundred meters from the Gaza border, relatives say. Youssef"s daughters Bilal, 18, and Aisha, 17, were released along with roughly 100 other hostages in November 2023 as part of a week-long ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel.
Youssef and Hamza remained behind.
A statement Friday from the Israel Defense Forces and the country"s domestic intelligence agency confirmed that the men died in captivity, but did not provide further details. The remains of the father and son were found near the bodies of their armed guards in an underground tunnel in Rafah, an IDF spokesman, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, said Wednesday.
The Ziyadne family"s case, and questions around how the two men died, will probably add to the pressure on Netanyahu, who for more than a year has faced criticism from hostage families - and from his own generals - that he is not doing enough to strike a deal with Hamas and is extending the war in Gaza unnecessarily. Some argue that instead of promoting Israeli security, the IDF"s bombing campaign is endangering Israeli captives. Netanyahu"s office has said it is acting "relentlessly for the return of all of our hostages."
Daniel Shek, a former Israeli ambassador to France who works with hostage families, said the list of 34 names leaked by Hamas this week was "not credible" and only inflamed anxieties and divisions within the nearly 100 families.
"Those families who are on the list ask if it is true, if the person is in good health, and those who are not on the list are frustrated and ask why are they not on the list," he said. "It"s really been havoc."
But, Shek added, many families were united in their belief that Israel"s military campaign, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and leveled large parts of Gaza, had failed in forcing Hamas to sign a deal. "There are many indications that we could"ve reached the same deal that is currently on the table months ago," Shek said. "After 15 months, military pressure has brought back more heartbreak than live hostages."
As friends and relatives of the Ziyadnes, who belong to the community of traditionally nomadic, Muslim Bedouins, gathered in the cloudless Negev desert to mourn Youssef this week, many cursed Netanyahu and Hamas with equal spite. While hundreds of men lined up stoically behind an imam and held a final prayer before lowering Youssef"s coffin into a dusty hilltop grave, his mother, daughter and two wives grieved next to a cow shed on the Ziyadne family"s homestead a short drive away.
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