Israeli forces recover bodies of two hostages taken on 7 October
Gad Haggai and Judy Weinstein Haggai were residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the communities hit the hardest by the Hamas-led attack, with nearly a quarter of its residents killed or taken hostage.
In an operation conducted by Israeli intelligence services and the military, 'the bodies of two of our hostages, held by the murderous terrorist organisation Hamas, were returned to Israel,' the country's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on X.
He said the two dead hostages were 'murdered on 7 October and abducted to the Gaza Strip'.
' The heart aches for this most terrible loss,' he said.
'We will not rest nor be silent until we bring all our hostages home—both the living and the fallen.'
The Families of the Hostages Embrace the Weinstein-Haggai Family in This Solemn Time.
The return of Judi and Gadi for proper burial in their beloved homeland represents the closing of a circle and the fulfillment of the state's fundamental obligation to them.
The hostage…
pic.twitter.com/jHR9Qh968I
— Bring Them Home Now (@bringhomenow)
June 5, 2025
An Israeli military official said the couple were killed on the morning of October 7 by fighters of the Mujahideen Brigades, an armed group close to Hamas ally Islamic Jihad.
According to the kibbutz, 117 residents were killed and more than 60 percent of its houses were destroyed during the attack.
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A joint statement from the army and the Shin Bet security agency said that the bodies were recovered from the Khan Younis 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.
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'.
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.
The Hamas-led attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Another 251 people were also taken hostage, most of whom have been released in captive exchanges during ceasefires.
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