IDF retrieves bodies of hostages Judith Weinstein Haggai, husband Gadi Haggai from Khan Yunis
The bodies of hostages Judith Weinstein Haggai and her husband, Gadi Haggai, were retrieved by the IDF overnight on Thursday in a special forces operation performed in collaboration with intelligence from the Shin Bet and the IDF.
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.
After an identification process at the National Center of Forensic Medicine, together with the Israel Police, the Hostage and Missing Persons Team in the IDF's Personnel Directorate notified the family and the Nir Oz community.
Weinstein and Haggai both held American citizenship, and Haggai additionally held Canadian citizenship.
They left behind four children and seven grandchildren.
'We welcome the closure that we have been granted and the return for burial of our loved ones, who went out for a walk on that Black Sabbath morning and never came back," Nir Oz said in a statement.
Nir Oz thanked the IDF and security forces who carried out the complex rescue operation. They also thanked "everyone who supported, struggled, prayed, and fought for us and for all of Israel," as well as the FBI, and the US and Israeli governments.
"However, our hearts will not be whole until all 12 hostages from Nir Oz and all 56 hostages in total are brought back," the statement concluded.
This is a developing story.
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