The father of an Israeli man held hostage by Hamas "died of grief" the day before his son and three others were rescued during a deadly military raid in Gaza.
Yossi Jan, 57, apparently suffered a heart attack on Friday, his sister told Israel's public broadcaster Kan, the Times of Israel reported Sunday.
"My brother died of grief and didn't get to see his son return. The night before Almog's return, my brother's heart stopped. He didn't get to see his son return," Dina Jan said.
Dina Jan said she got a call Saturday from the army saying that her nephew, Almog Meir Jan, 21, had been rescued and that authorities were unable to reach his father.
"I drove like crazy, I knocked, 'Yossi, Yossi, Yossi' and nothing. I got no answer. The door of his house was open and I saw him sleeping in the living room," she said. "I screamed 'Yossi!' to him and he didn't answer me. I saw the color of his skin, I touched him, but he was dead."
Before his death, Yossi Jan "was glued to the television for the whole eight months, clinging to every piece of information" after his son was kidnapped on Oct. 7, Dina Jan said.
The anguished father "couldn't bear" the strain and lost about 45 pounds, his sister said.
"He closed himself off, didn't want to see people. Everyone was worried about Yossi, but he wasn't able to communicate with anyone," she said.
Dina Jan also said that every potential hostage deal "that exploded in his face broke his heart."
Almog Meir Jan and the three other rescued hostages -- Noa Argamani, 26, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomo Ziv -- were all taken captive when Hamas attacked the Nova music festival in the desert near Gaza.
Israel has said its forces came under heavy fire from all sides during the operation to free them from Nuseirat in Gaza and responded from the ground and air.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties, said at least 274 Palestinians were killed and more than 700 were wounded.
On Sunday, the Israeli military, which diputes the death toll, alleged that a Palestinian journalist, Abdallah Aljamal, held Almog Meir Jan, Kozlov and Ziv captive in his family's home in Nuseirat.
That assertion came after Ramy Abdul, chairman of the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, said on social media that Israeli commandos "executed" Aljamal, 36, his wife and father after using a ladder to break into the older man's home.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan acknowledged Sunday that "innocent people were tragically killed" by the rescue operation but blamed Hamas for holding hostages and placing military encampments "right in the heart of crowded civilian areas."
