Israel finds the body of a hostage killed in Gaza, while talks will resume on a cease-fire

Israel's military said Saturday it had recovered the body of a 47-year-old farmer who was held hostage in Gaza, while negotiators prepared to begin another round of talks on brokering a cease-fire and securing the release of the remaining hostages, six months into the war.

Israel's army said it had found the body of Elad Katzir and believed he was killed in January by militants with Islamic Jihad, one of the groups that entered southern Israel in the Oct. 7 attack, killed more than 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.

Katzir had been abducted along with his mother, Hanna, who was released in November. His father, Avraham, was killed during the attack in Nir Oz, a border community that suffered some of Israeli’s heaviest losses.

The discovery renewed pressure on Israel's government for a deal to get the remaining hostages freed, as families have long feared time is running out. At least 36 hostages in captivity have been confirmed dead, while about half of the original number have been released.

Meanwhile, the toll of Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza is measured in tens of thousands of deaths and more than a million Palestinians displaced.

“We have arrived at a terrible milestone,” the U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement marking six months and noting “the immediate prospect of a shameful man-made famine.”

Griffiths added: “We face the unconscionable prospect of further escalation in Gaza, where no one is safe and there is nowhere safe to go. An already fragile aid operation continues to be undermined by bombardments, insecurity and denials of access.”

Israelis are divided on the approach by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government after multiple rounds of stalled cease-fire