The Israeli military said Friday it had identified the body of a hostage recovered from a tunnel in southern Gaza as the son of Yosef Al-Ziyadnah, a hostage whose body was recovered earlier this week. Hamza Al-Ziyadnah, 23, was found dead in a tunnel in the Rafah area, a joint statement from the Israel Defense Forces and Internal Security Agency, known as Shin Bet, said on Friday. The Israeli military said Wednesday it had recovered the body of Yousef Al-Ziyadnah, 53, from a tunnel in the Rafah area and had discovered evidence that raised "grave concerns" for his son's life. Hamza and his father were kidnapped during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and had been held in the Gaza Strip. "Hamza and Yosef were abducted alive on October 7 and were killed while in Hamas captivity," the statement said. The Al-Ziyadnah family are part of the Bedouin Muslim-Arab community that lives in southern Israel's Negev desert. Yousef and three of his children – Hamza, Bilal, and Aysha – were taken from Kibbutz Holit in southwest Israel, where they used to work. Bilal and Aysha were among the dozens of hostages returned in the short-lived ceasefire deal in November 2023. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum expressed grief at the news of Hamza's death and again called for a deal to release the remaining hostages held in Gaza. "Yosef and Hamza, who survived a period in the hell of Gaza captivity, could have been saved through an earlier agreement," the statement said. "The time and conditions are ripe for all the hostages to return – bringing the living home for rehabilitation and the deceased for proper burial," it said. "The negotiations must be expedited to secure an immediate deal for their return. This historic window of opportunity stands before us and must not be lost." Talks over a potential hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza appear deadlocked, with Hamas claiming that Israel has introduced new conditions and Egyptian mediators sounding downbeat about progress. A Hamas official told CNN on Friday that Israel has demanded holding on to a 1-kilometer strip of territory along the eastern and northern borders of the enclave. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was responding to a report by Reuters citing an unnamed Palestinian official about the alleged new condition. "Israel still insists on keeping a 1 km landscape along the eastern and northern borders of the Gaza Strip, which will restrict the return of residents to their homes and represent a retreat from what it (Israel) had agreed upon in July," the official told Reuters. The Hamas official who spoke to CNN said Israel's conditions included "much more" but did not offer further details. CNN has reached out to Israel about the claims. Meanwhile, an Egyptian official and another diplomat briefed on the matter told CNN on Friday that the indirect talks between Hamas and Israel in Qatar have yet to reach a breakthrough, despite statements from United States officials indicating that they were progressing. "There is a clear appetite on the part of the Americans to get a deal done for the incoming Trump administration," the diplomat said. But the diplomat sounded a note of caution: "Things are going well but there is still a lot of work to do." The comments come a day after US President Joe Biden said he met with negotiators and added that his assessment was that there was "real progress" being made. We're making some real progress. I met with negotiators today," Biden said. "Hope springs eternal, but I think I'm still hopeful that we'll be able to have a prisoner exchange. Hamas is the one getting in the way of that exchange, right now." US President-elect Donald Trump warned in a press conference this week that if the hostages Hamas is holding in Gaza are not released by his inauguration on January 20, "all hell will break out in the Middle East." Ninety-eight hostages are still being held in Gaza, including 36 who are presumed to be dead, according to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. Steve Witkoff, Trump's pick for special envoy to the Middle East, told reporters Wednesday he will be travelling to Qatar for the talks, saying negotiators are "making a lot of progress,." and appeared to suggest that a deal before January 20 was realistic. However, a senior Biden administration official struck a more cautious tone, telling CNN that the negotiations remain "difficult." US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators are in the Qatari capital Doha in their latest push to close a deal between Hamas and Israel after more than a year of failed negotiations. — CNN
