A dying man with inside information at the episode’s beginning revealed the actual Zahar was “someone you know,” which led Ziva and the team on a hunt for someone connected to her.
As NCIS fans learned in the episode, though, that was not the actual Zahar.
Yes, this is the same Zahar that was believed to have been killed earlier in Season 17.
Later in the episode, another suspect revealed the name of the real Zahar’s child, and Gibbs realized they’d been barking up the wrong tree when he heard Phineas’ name.