JERUSALEM — 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.

The discovery of Yosef AlZayadni’s body comes as Israel and Hamas are considering a ceasefire deal that would free the remaining hostages in Gaza and could halt the fighting. Israel has declared about a third of the 100 hostages dead, but believes as many as half could be.

Yosef and his son Hamzah AlZayadni were thought to still be alive before Wednesday’s announcement, and news about their fate could ramp up pressure on Israel to move forward with a deal.

The military said it found evidence in the tunnel that raised “serious concerns” for the life of Hamzah AlZayadni, 23, suggesting he may have died in captivity. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, said the circumstances behind Yosef AlZayadni’s death were being investigated.

AlZayadni and three of his children were among 250 hostages taken captive after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people.

AlZayadni, who had 19 children, worked at the dairy farm at Kibbutz Holit for 17 years, said the Hostages Families Forum, a group representing the relatives of captives. AlZayadni’s teenage children, Bilal and Aisha, were released along with about 100 hostages in a weeklong ceasefire deal in November 2023.

The family are members of the Bedouin community, part of Israel’s Palestinian minority who have Israeli citizenship. The traditionally nomadic community is impoverished in Israel and has suffered from neglect and marginalization. Palestinians make up some 20% of Israel’s population of 10 million, and millions more live in Gaza and under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank.

Eight members of Israel’s Bedouin minority were abducted in the October 2023 attacks.

Yosef AlZayadni appeared on a list of 34 hostages shared by a Hamas official with The Associated Press earlier this week who the group said were scheduled for release.

Israel said this was a list it had submitted to mediators last July, and that it has received nothing from Hamas.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas is “very close.” Blinken said he hopes “we can get it over the line” before handing over U.S. diplomacy to President-elect Donald Trump’s administration Jan. 20.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed sorrow at the news of AlZayadni’s death, and said in a statement he had “hoped and worked to bring back the four members of the family from Hamas captivity.”

The war has killed over 45,800 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.