Latest news with #GadiHaggai
Saudi Gazette
3 days ago
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Israeli military recovers two hostages' bodies in southern Gaza
JERUSALEM — Israeli forces have recovered the bodies of two Israeli-Americans taken back to Gaza as hostages during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, the Israeli military says. Judi Weinstein Haggai, 70, who was also a Canadian citizen, and her husband Gadi Haggai, 72, were murdered by gunmen from the Mujahideen Brigades group when they attacked Kibbutz Nir Oz, a statement said. Their bodies were found in the southern Khan Younis area of Gaza overnight and brought back to Israel for forensic identification. There are now 56 hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and his wife sent their condolences to the families of Judi and Gadi Haggai. "Our hearts grieve over this terrible loss. May their memories be blessed," he added."I would like to thank, and express appreciation to, the fighters and commanders for this determined and successful operation. We will not rest, nor will we be silent, until we return home all of our hostages — the living and the deceased."The couple's families recalled how they "went out for a walk on the morning of that cursed Saturday and never returned"."We welcome the closure and their return to a proper burial at home, in Israel," they an English teacher, and Gadi Haggai, who used to work in Kibbutz Nir Oz's kitchen, were last seen alive in a video they shared with a group chat at the start of the 7 October attack. They were seen taking cover in a field as incoming rockets fired from Gaza streaked overhead and the sound of gunfire was later told friends and relatives they had been wounded, before ceasing couple's daughter Iris Weinstein Haggai said after the attack her mother had told her they had been "shot by terrorists on a motorcycle and that my dad was wounded really bad". She added: "Paramedics tried to send her an ambulance. The ambulance got hit by a rocket."In December 2023, the kibbutz announced that both Judi and Gadi were killed that day and their bodies were being held hostage in Wednesday, an Israeli military official said the couple's bodies were recovered from the Khan Younis area following an operation based on "precise intelligence" from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet security said they could not disclose further details due to the sensitivity of the operation. However, Israeli Army Radio reported the intelligence was obtained through the Shin Bet's interrogation of a Palestinian fighter captured by Israeli troops in Gaza."We will keep doing the utmost for the mission of bringing our hostages back - the living, to reunite with their families, and the deceased to dignified burial. We will deploy all the methods and tools in our disposal for this goal," the military official Hostages and Missing Families Forum urged decision-makers to do everything they could to agree a new ceasefire deal with Hamas to secure the return of all the remaining hostages."There is no need to wait another 608 agonizing days for this," it said. "The mission can be completed as early as tomorrow morning. This is what the majority of the Israeli people want."US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was "united in prayer" for the Haggai family."Hamas must release all remaining hostages, including Omer Neutra and Itay Chen," he added, referring to two other Israeli-Americans who the Israeli military says were killed on 7 October while serving as soldiers and whose bodies were taken back to Prime Minister Mark Carney said: "The return of their remains is a time to begin to heal and to rest. We mourn with [Judi Haggai's] family. May her memory be a blessing."Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the unprecedented cross-border attack almost 20 months ago, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken four people, two of them dead, were already being held captive in Gaza before the far, 199 hostages have been returned, 148 of them alive, mostly through two temporary ceasefire deals with least 54,677 people have been killed in Gaza during the war, according to the territory's Hamas-run health imposed a total blockade on Gaza on 2 March and resumed its military offensive against Hamas two weeks later, collapsing a two-month truce during which 33 Israeli hostages and five Thai hostages were freed. Israel said it wanted to put pressure on Hamas to release the remaining 19 May, the Israeli military launched an expanded offensive that Netanyahu said would see troops "take control of all areas" of Gaza. Israel also partially eased its blockade, allowing some food into the territory amid warnings from experts of a looming than 4,400 people have reportedly been killed in Gaza over the past three months, while 640,000 others have been displaced again by Israeli ground operations and evacuation of a new ceasefire deal faded last week, with Hamas and Israel remaining at odds over the conditions of the latest US said it was prepared to release 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 dead ones, which was the number specified in US envoy Steve Witkoff's proposal, in exchange for a 60-day truce and the release of Palestinian the group also repeated its demands for guarantees that the truce would lead to a permanent ceasefire, as well as a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and the resumption of unrestricted aid called Hamas's statement a refusal of the proposal, and Witkoff said it was totally unacceptable. But a Hamas official insisted it had acted positively and responsibly. — BBC
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Witkoff urges Hamas to accept ceasefire proposal
Earlier on Thursday, the bodies of Judith Weinstein Haggai and her husband, Gadi Haggai, were recovered by the military. They held Canadian and American citizenships. US Envoy Steve Witkoff on Thursday said that Hamas must accept the current ceasefire proposal to ensure the remaining hostages are returned. "Although those who were murdered can never be replaced, this closure is absolutely critical and a minimum of human dignity." The bodies of hostages Judith Weinstein Haggai and her husband, Gadi Haggai, were retrieved by the IDF in the early hours of Thursday morning in a special forces operation performed in collaboration with intelligence from the Shin Bet and the IDF, the military announced. They held American and Canadian citizenships. The Mujahideen Brigades kidnapped and held the bodies of the two in Gaza after they were murdered on October 7 in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Their deaths were determined in December 2023. IDF forces carried out the rescue operation under the Southern Command. The information that allowed their retrieval into Israeli territory was learned during an interrogation of a captured terrorist. Negotiations between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, are ongoing despite significant gaps, a source familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post. Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, met with senior Hamas officials based in Doha. These officials emphasized that Hamas demands US guarantees that negotiations for a deal, including a ceasefire, will continue after the initial 60-day period, the source told the Post. Efforts are being made to reach new understandings with Hamas before Eid al-Adha, which begins on Friday. In Doha, Bishara Bahbah, an envoy of Steve Witkoff, continued to engage with senior Hamas officials. The mediators, Egypt, Qatar, and the US administration, are working to advance a deal or at least secure agreements between the parties despite the challenges. Jerusalem Post Staff and Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.
Deccan Herald
3 days ago
- Deccan Herald
Israeli military recovers bodies of two victims of October 7 attack
The two victims, Judi Weinstein Haggai and Gadi Haggai, were in their 70s when they were killed by members of the Mujahedeen Brigades, a small Palestinian militant group.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel confirms attack on Gaza hospital, recovery of two bodies
Israel's military on Thursday confirmed carrying out an attack on the courtyard of the al-Ahli hospital in the northern Gaza Strip and that it had recovered the bodies of two elderly Israelis presumed killed by Hamas. Three people were killed and others injured in the strike, according to Palestinian hospital officials. The Gaza media office of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas militia reported that the dead were three reporters working for media outlets affiliated with Islamic Jihad, a militant group. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not specify fatalities. The IDF stated that the attack targeted a terrorist from the Islamic Jihad who was operating from a command centre in the hospital courtyard in Gaza City. The assertions could not be independently verified. Hamas once again is using a Gaza hospital "for terrorist activity, cynically and brutally using the civilian population in the hospital and its surroundings," the IDF said in a statement. It said it took steps to mitigate harm to civilians, "including the use of precise munitions." The hospital has come under Israeli fire multiple times since the start of the Gaza war in 2023. Bodies of Israeli couple recovered Separately, the IDF said bodies identified as those of 72-year-old Gadi Haggai and his 70-year-old wife Judih Weinstein were recovered in a joint special operation with the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency in the area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and his wife "convey our heartfelt condolences to the dear families. Our hearts grieve over this terrible loss. May their memories be blessed." A statement from the Israeli kibbutz Nir Oz, where the couple lived, said they had been brought back to the settlement and would now be buried. The family was informed of their deaths in December 2023. Israel assumes the couple were killed during the terrorist attack on October 7, 2003, when Hamas and other Palestinian militants raided southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostage. According to Israeli sources, at least 20 hostages are still alive in the Gaza Strip. The remains of 33 dead hostages are believed to be in a sealed-off area which contains countless underground tunnel systems. The October 7, 2023 massacre prompted Israel to launch a large-scale war against the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The Hamas-controlled health authority in the territory says over 54,000 people have since been killed by Israeli attacks. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum described the return of the remains as "painful and heartbreaking," but said it alleviates uncertainty. It said "decision-makers must do everything necessary to reach an agreement" to free the remaining living hostages and return the bodies of the deceased. Gaza aid centres reopening with two new facilities Also on Thursday, aid centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) were to begin operating, with two additional distribution points opening. Aid distribution was suspended due to "renovation work." Both centres are located in the area of Rafah in the southern part of the Palestinian coastal region, according to a statement posted on the foundation's Facebook page. The organization, supported by Israel and the United States, is bypassing the United Nations and other humanitarian initiatives and has faced criticism for endangering civilians and violating established standards of neutral aid. Israel, however, has stated that its aim is to prevent Hamas from seizing the aid supplies. In response to reports of deadly shootings at aid stations in recent days, the GHF has pledged to improve security at the distribution centres. The foundation stated on Facebook that it is working to make the distribution of food packages as safe as possible. All Palestinians heading to the centres were strongly urged to follow the routes designated by the Israeli military. Journalists call for Gaza access In the midst of the war, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called for immediate, independent and unrestricted access for international journalists to the Gaza Strip. At a time when there are renewed Israeli attacks on the Palestinian coastal strip and the delivery of humanitarian aid is resuming, it is crucial that Israel opens the borders to international journalists, an open letter states. The letter also demands that Israel ensure the protection of local reporters in the region. RSF published the letter jointly with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which it said was signed by more than 100 international media outlets. Since the start of the Gaza war, only a few international journalists have been able to enter the Gaza Strip, and only when accompanied by the Israeli military. CPJ said at least 181 journalists have been killed in Gaza and Lebanon since the conflict flared again. Israel has repeatedly accused Palestinian reporters in Gaza of working for Hamas. Several media outlets in the blockaded strip are known to be close to the Islamist organization. However, some critics view the accusations against local reporters as a tactic by Israel to suppress critical reporting from the war zone.
Reuters
3 days ago
- General
- Reuters
Remains of Canadian hostage returned to Israel, Canadian PM Carney says
TORONTO, June 5 (Reuters) - The remains of Judih Weinstein, a Canadian citizen who was taken hostage by Hamas during its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, have been returned to Israel, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement on Thursday. "As the family grieves the unimaginable loss of both Ms. Weinstein and her husband, Gadi Haggai, who was murdered in that same horrific attack, the return of their remains is a time to begin to heal and to rest," Carney said.
