Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the military recovered the bodies of two Israeli hostages in Gaza captured by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Katz stated that the bodies Youssef Ziyadne and his son Hamza were recovered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) "in a heroic operation" and expressed his condolences to the family.

The IDF confirmed that Youssef Ziyadne's body was found in a tunnel in Rafah in southern Gaza, alongside the bodies of two Hamas operatives. However, it did not confirm the finding of the second hostage body.