The Israeli military said that it had retrieved the body of a hostage who had been held in the Gaza Strip, as the Biden administration struggles to secure a cease-fire deal that would bring home dozens of hostages.

Roughly 100 Israeli hostages were taken into Gaza when Hamas militants launched an attack on southern Israel on 7th October 2023.View on euronews

Israel believes a third of the remaining hostages are dead, while a number have been previously freed through negotiated deals. However, Yosef and Hamzah Al Zaydani were believed to still be alive and their bodies’ return could ramp up the pressure on Israel to move ahead on a deal.