Bodies of Israeli American couple recovered from Gaza, Israel says
BEIRUT — Israeli forces recovered overnight the bodies of an Israeli American couple who were abducted and killed on Oct. 7, 2023, and since held by Hamas, Israeli officials said Thursday morning.
The bodies of Judi Weinstein Haggai and Gadi Haggai were recovered from Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said Thursday. The two were in their early 70s when they were taken from southern Israel and killed, and their bodies held in Gaza, officials said. Weinstein Haggai was also a Canadian citizen, her family has previously said.
Israeli officials had said in December 2023 that the couple was killed on the day of the Hamas-led attacks. The IDF said Thursday that the Palestinian militant group Mujahideen Brigades had abducted and killed them, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas had been holding their bodies.
'My beautiful parents have been freed. We have certainty,' their daughter, Iris Weinstein Haggai, wrote on Instagram on Thursday, calling for the remaining hostages to be repatriated.
As of Thursday, the bodies of two Israeli Americans — Omer Neutra and Itay Chen — are believed to be still held in Gaza.
'The return of Judi and Gad is painful and heartbreaking, yet it also brings healing to our uncertainty,' the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement. 'Their return reminds us all that it is the state's duty to bring everyone home, so that we, the families, together with all the people of Israel, can begin the process of healing and recovery. ... The mission can be completed as early as tomorrow morning. This is what the majority of the Israeli people want.'
Of the 251 hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attacks, 55 continue to be held in Gaza, at least 32 of which the Israeli military says are dead. On May 21, Netanyahu said that three of the 23 hostages remaining in Gaza were dead, without naming or identifying them.
Rom reported from Tel Aviv.
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