Yousef Zyadna lived in a Bedouin village in Israel’s southern Negev desert.

On the morning of 7 October 2023, he went to work at the dairy farm of Kibbutz Holit, where he was joined by his three children for a picnic.

They were among the 251 Israelis and foreign nationals taken hostage when hundreds of Hamas-led gunmen stormed across the nearby Israel-Gaza perimeter fence and killed about 1,200 other people.

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the attack. More than 45,930 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Israel says 95 of the hostages remain in Gaza, of whom 34 are presumed dead, as well as another four Israelis who were abducted before the war, two of whom are dead.

The Israeli military said Yousef Zyadna was “killed in captivity” and that his family was notified following an identification procedure carried out by National Institute of Forensic Medicine and the Israel Police.

Spokesman Lt Col Nadav Shoshani told reporters that special forces found his body close to the bodies of several armed guards, and that it was not clear how or when he died.

“We are currently investigating the circumstances of his death and we are also investigating the findings regarding his son,” he said, according to Reuters news agency.

“These findings raise concern for his life and they are still being examined at this moment,” he added, without giving any details.

Earlier, Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X that both Yousef and Hamza’s bodies had been recovered.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said: “We hoped and worked for the safe return of the four members of the [Zyadna] family held hostage by Hamas.”

“We returned the children Bilal and Aisha in November 2023 and wanted to bring back Yousef and Hamza as well. I send heartfelt condolences to the family.”

He also pledged that Israeli security forces would “continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages, the living and the deceased”.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents some hostages’ families, expressed regret that potential ceasefire and hostage release deal being discussed in Doha “comes far too late for Yousef”.

“Every day in captivity poses an immediate mortal danger to the hostages who have managed to survive for 15 months, and threatens the possibility of returning the deceased for burial,” a statement said.