“Our hearts ache over the immense tragedy of the Ziyadne family,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog, said in a statement. He added, “Time is running out. Youssef was abducted alive! Our hostages are in immediate life-threatening danger. We must continue to do everything possible to urgently return 99 of our brothers and sisters – the living to their families and the fallen and murdered to be laid to rest in dignity.”
Palestinians look at a damaged residential building following an overnight Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip. Israeli strikes killed at least 22 people on Wednesday, medics said.Credit: AP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been accused by some Israelis of failing to prioritise the return of the hostages, expressed “deep sorrow over the bitter news” for the Ziyadne family. He also pledged to “continue making every effort to secure the release of all hostages back home – both the living and the dead.”
There are about 300,000 Bedouin in the Negev desert area of southern Israel, and other members of the community, in addition to the Ziyadne family, were killed or taken hostage in the attacks. Samer Talalka, a Bedouin, was one of three hostages mistakenly killed by Israeli forces in December 2023. In August, the Israeli military brought home alive Farhan al-Qadi, a Bedouin from a village near Rahat, where Ziyadne’s family lives.
The Bedouin are a marginalised minority in Israel, with unemployment high and poverty rampant in their villages, which have long suffered from a lack of basic services, including running water and electricity. Some Bedouin, who are Arab and Muslim, choose to serve in the Israeli military or work on kibbutzim or for other Israeli Jews, and are sometimes seen as traitors by fellow Arabs.
Qadi had worked as an unarmed guard on a kibbutz in southern Israel when he was taken hostage. Ziyadne and his two sons were working on a dairy farm at a nearby kibbutz, and Aisha was visiting her father and brothers at work when they were all taken captive.
Palestinians react next to the bodies of their relatives who were killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, on Wednesday.Credit: AP
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US President Joe Biden and top aides have been working for many months to negotiate the release of the remaining hostages and to secure a ceasefire, and a deal has seemed imminent several times, only to fall apart after what Biden administration officials have said were rejections by Hamas negotiators. Israeli officials have also repeatedly objected to some parts of proposed deals.
Relatives of the captives argue that there is no time to wait, and many have pushed for an immediate ceasefire deal. In a statement expressing sorrow over the death of Youssef Ziyadne, the Hostages Families Forum, which represents relatives of the captives, repeated a call for urgency it has made many times before.
“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,” the forum said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
