Israel returns 2 bodies of Hamas hostages in Gaza in ‘special operation'
Israel recovered the bodies of two hostages taken by Hamas.
They were named as Judy Weinstein Haggai and Gad Haggai.
Israel has recently stepped up its offensive in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the bodies of two Israeli-Americans killed in Hamas' 7 October 2023 attack and held in Gaza had been returned to Israel.
'In a special operation by the (security agency) and the (military) in the Gaza Strip, the bodies of two of our hostages held by the murderous terrorist organisation Hamas were returned to Israel: Judy Weinstein Haggai and Gad Haggai from Kibbutz Nir Oz, may their memory be blessed,' Netanyahu said in a statement.
'Judy and Gad were murdered on October 7 and abducted to the Gaza Strip.'
A joint statement from the army and the Shin Bet security agency said that the bodies were recovered from the Khan Yunis area of the southern Gaza Strip in an overnight operation.
'The rescue operation was conducted by... troops in coordination with the intelligence directorate and special forces,' it added.
READ | Gaza aid centres close and 'are considered combat zones' after Israel fire killed 27
The spokesperson for the kibbutz in southern Israel where the elderly couple lived said in a statement that 'after more than 600 days of pain and waiting, the bodies of Gad Haggai and Judy Weinstein Haggai were brought back home to the State of Israel and to Nir Oz last night in a military operation'.
Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP
The kibbutz said Gad Haggai was 72 at the time of the October 2023 attack and Judy Weinstein Haggai was 70.
Gad, a music lover and talented cook, and Judy, a former English teacher, have four children and seven grandchildren, according to the kibbutz.
'We welcome the closure of the circle and their return for a proper burial at home, in Israel,' the family was quoted as saying in the statement from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
'We want to thank the (military) and security forces involved in the complex rescue operation and for fighting for us for over a year and a half, and to everyone who supported, fought, prayed and struggled for us and for the entire people of Israel,' they added.
Ronen Zvulun/Pool/AFP
Israel has recently stepped up its offensive in Gaza in what it says is a bid to defeat Hamas, whose October 2023 attack sparked the war.
The attack resulted in the deaths of 1 218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, at least 4 335 people have been killed since Israel resumed its offensive on 18 March, taking the war's overall toll to 54 607, mostly civilians.
Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas' attack, 55 remain in captivity, including 32 the Israeli military says are dead.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
15 minutes ago
FBI, DHS warn of 'elevated threat' to Jewish community in new PSA
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are warning of an "elevated threat" facing the Jewish community in the wake of two attacks: Sunday's Molotov cocktail assault in Boulder, Colorado, and last month's killing of two Israeli Embassy staff members in Washington, D.C. The Israel-Hamas conflict "may motivate other violent extremists and hate crime perpetrators with similar grievances to conduct violence against Jewish and Israeli communities and their supporters," the FBI and DHS said in a public service announcement issued Thursday night. "Foreign terrorist organizations also may try to exploit narratives related to the conflict to inspire attacks in the United States." The public should "remain vigilant" and "report any threats of violence or suspicious activity to law enforcement," the agencies said. The PSA references Sunday's attack in Boulder when Mohamed Soliman allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at a group of marchers advocating for the release of Israeli hostages, according to prosecutors. Fifteen people, including a Holocaust survivor, were injured, officials said. Soliman, who was arrested at the scene, allegedly yelled "Free Palestine" during the attack, the FBI said. Soliman later told police "he wanted to kill all Zionist people," court documents said. He "said this had nothing to do with the Jewish community and was specific in the Zionist group supporting the killings of people on his land (Palestine)," documents said. Soliman has been charged with a federal hate crime as well as 118 state charges, including attempted murder, assault and explosives charges. He has not entered a plea in either case. The PSA also mentions the May 21 killings of two Israeli Embassy staff members. Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were fatally shot as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in D.C. When the suspect was arrested, he began to chant, "free, free Palestine," according to police. The Anti-Defamation League has documented a dramatic rise in acts of hate targeting Jewish people in the U.S. since the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack in Israel. In 2024, the ADL said it recorded a record high of 9,354 antisemitic incidents in the U.S., marking a 344% increase over the past five years and a 893% increase over the past 10 years. "I am angry," ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said a news conference in Boulder on Wednesday. 'It's way past time for our political leaders, community groups, media outlets, tech platforms, faith leaders to take action before more Jewish blood is spilled. And it's way past time to stop excusing antisemitic rhetoric," he said. Greenblatt urged the public to speak out against hate and shared small, specific actions people can take.
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump administration imposes sanctions on four ICC judges in unprecedented move
By Humeyra Pamuk, Stephanie van den Berg WASHINGTON/THE HAGUE (Reuters) -President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on four judges at the International Criminal Court, an unprecedented retaliation over the war tribunal's issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a past decision to open a case into alleged war crimes by U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Washington designated Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia, according to a statement from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "As ICC judges, these four individuals have actively engaged in the ICC's illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel. The ICC is politicized and falsely claims unfettered discretion to investigate, charge, and prosecute nationals of the United States and our allies," Rubio said. The ICC slammed the move, saying it was an attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution that provides hope and justice to millions of victims of "unimaginable atrocities." Both judges Bossa and Ibanez Carranza have been on the ICC bench since 2018. In 2020 they were involved in an appeals chamber decision that allowed the ICC prosecutor to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes by American troops in Afghanistan. Since 2021, the court had deprioritized the investigation into American troops in Afghanistan and focused on alleged crimes committed by the Afghan government and the Taliban forces. ICC judges also issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, former Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict. Alapini Gansou and Hohler ruled to authorize the arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Gallant, Rubio said. The move deepens the administration's animosity toward the court. During the first Trump administration in 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her top aides over the court's work on Afghanistan. The measures also follow a January vote at the U.S. House of Representatives to punish the ICC in protest over its Netanyahu arrest warrant. The move underscored strong support among Trump's fellow Republicans for Israel's government. DIFFICULT TIME FOR ICC The measures triggered uproar among human-rights advocates. Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said the punitive measures were a "flagrant attack on the rule of law at the same time as President Trump is working to undercut it at home." Sanctions severely hamper individuals' abilities to carry out even routine financial transactions as any banks with ties to the United States, or that conduct transactions in dollars, are expected to have to comply with the restrictions. But the Treasury Department also issued general licenses, including one allowing the wind-down of any existing transactions involving those targeted on Thursday until July 8, as long as any payment to them is made to a blocked, interest-bearing account located in the U.S. The new sanctions come at a difficult time for the ICC, which is already reeling from earlier U.S. sanctions against its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who last month stepped aside temporarily amid a United Nations investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct. The ICC, which was established in 2002, has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in member states or if a situation is referred by the U.N. Security Council. The United States, China, Russia and Israel are not members. It has high-profile war crimes investigations under way into the Israel-Hamas conflict and Russia's war in Ukraine as well as in Sudan, Myanmar, the Philippines, Venezuela and Afghanistan. The ICC has issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir Putin on suspicion of deporting children from Ukraine, and for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza. Neither country is a member of the court and both deny the accusations and reject ICC jurisdiction.
CBS News
38 minutes ago
- CBS News
Opponents say Netanyahu's decision to arm "clans in Gaza" to help fight Hamas will come back to haunt Israel
Former Israeli Defense Minister and opposition lawmaker Avigdor Liberman on Thursday accused Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of authorizing weapons transfers to a criminal gang in Gaza that he likened to the ISIS terrorist group. Netanyahu appeared later in the day to confirm the operation, suggesting it would save the lives of Israeli forces battling Hamas in the Palestinian territory. "They are receiving weapons from the state of Israel. It's a total madness," Liberman said in a radio interview. "It's unclear to me who approved it." Liberman said the head of Israel's primary domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet was aware of the weapons transfers, "but I'm not sure the [Israel Defense Forces] knows. We're talking about the equivalent of ISIS in Gaza. No one can guarantee that these weapons will not be directed at Israel. We have no way of monitoring or following." Liberman appeared to be referring to a militia called the Popular Forces of Palestine, led by Yasser Abu Shabab. The group is opposed to Hamas, the Israeli- and U.S.-designated terrorist group Israel has been at war with for more than a year and a half. Popular Forces is believed to be a relatively small armed group based in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. It has been accused of looting trucks trying to deliver aid to Gaza's starving population, which its leader reportedly denied. There have been reports that Shabab, the group's leader, was previously jailed by Hamas for smuggling drugs, as well as reports that his brother was killed by Hamas when the group cracked down on attacks on U.N. aid convoys Late on Thursday, Netanyahu acknowledged that, "on the advice of security officials, we activated clans in Gaza that oppose Hamas. What's wrong with that? It's only good. It only saves the lives of IDF soldiers." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a news conference in Jerusalem, May 21, 2025. RONEN ZVULUN/POOL/AFP/Getty Abu Shabab denied receiving weapons from Israel in a statement posted on social media. "We categorically reject these accusations and consider them a blatant attempt to distort the image of a grassroots force born from suffering — one that stood up to injustice, looting, and corruption," the group said. "This desperate attempt to link us to the occupation is, in reality, an implicit admission that we have become a powerful and influential force." Hamas orchestrated and led the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack on southern Israel that began the war in Gaza. It said, following Netanyahu's remarks, that "every individual involved in these mercenary gangs [Israel has allegedly been supporting] is considered by us to be an Israeli soldier. We will deal with them with full force." Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid responded to the claim that Israel is arming Abu Shabab with a warning that it could see a repeat of a grim history for the country. For decades, including multiple terms in office for Netanyahu, Israel allowed Hamas to grow and entrench its control in Gaza, with millions of dollars in support from the Arab would pouring in. It was seen as a cynical bid to prevent a unified Palestinian leadership from taking hold in Gaza and the much larger territory of the West Bank. "After Netanyahu finished giving millions of dollars to Hamas, he moved on to giving weapons to organizations close to ISIS in Gaza, all off the cuff, all without strategic planning, all leading to more disasters," Lapid said on social media. "Weapons that enter Gaza will eventually be turned against IDF soldiers and Israeli citizens," he said.
