TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military said Wednesday it had recovered another body of a hostage in the Gaza Strip. An Arab Israeli, aged 53, was brought out after being found dead in a tunnel in the Rafah area of southern Gaza on Tuesday, according to a military spokesman, who said he was killed in captivity.

The body of Youssef Ziyadne, and possibly that of his son, was found after a "complex and difficult operation," an official said.

Israeli soldiers recovered the body of a 53-year-old hostage in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said Wednesday, and the army was determining if another set of remains belongs to the man’s son.

Israel has started 2025 by killing dozens of children in Gaza in strikes and raids across the besieged enclave, the UN has reported, after having already broken numerous records for violence against children in its genocide of Palestinians in the past 15 months.

Israeli military strikes across Gaza killed at least 22 people on Wednesday, Palestinian medics said, as the U.S. stepped up efforts to overcome sticking points between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire to end the war.

The Israeli military said it targeted militants who had taken part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war, without providing evidence.