The death of her husband Gad Haggai, who had previously also been considered kidnapped, had already been declared last week.
Judith Weinstein Haggai was considered the oldest woman among the hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip. The woman, who took care of children in need as an English teacher, leaves behind four children and seven grandchildren, Kibbutz Nir Oz said on Thursday. The remains of Weinstein Haggai and her husband are still in the Gaza Strip, it said. The couple’s family called for the bodies to be repatriated as soon as possible in a statement on Thursday, saying their killing reminded political leaders around the world that “the hostages must return home before it is too late.”
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“We are heartbroken over the murder of our mother and grandmother,” the family said in a statement on Thursday, quoted by Israeli media. US President Joe Biden also expressed shock. “This tragic development hits us deeply,” Biden said in a written statement. The relatives of the hostages had been living through hell for weeks. “No family should have to go through such an ordeal.”
The couple was seriously injured by gunfire from Hamas terrorists on October 7th. The woman called for help by phone. However, this did not happen. Relatives and the kibbutz administration initially assumed that the couple had been seriously wounded and taken to the Gaza Strip by Hamas terrorists. According to the kibbutz, Hamas is still holding the bodies of the two to this day.
On Thursday, according to an AFP journalist’s report, a crowd in Jerusalem demonstrated again in front of the Israeli parliament to demand a quick return of the hostages. During a ceasefire between November 24th and December 1st, a total of 105 hostages held by Palestinian organizations in the Gaza Strip were released – 80 of them in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
1140 people killed on October 7th
According to Israeli figures, 1,140 people were killed and 250 taken hostage in Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7th. According to Israeli information, 129 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip.
In response to the Hamas attack, Israel has been attacking targets in the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, more than 21,300 people have been killed so far.
