(Jerusalem) The Israeli army and Kibbutz Nir Oz announced Friday that an Israeli-American hostage died when he was kidnapped on October 7 during the Hamas attack on Israeli soil, and whose remains are still located in the Gaza Strip.
Gadi Haggaï, 73, “was killed on October 7 on the kibbutz. His body was brought back by the terrorists to the Gaza Strip where he is being held,” Nir Oz said in a statement, without specifying how the news of the death had been transmitted to him.
The Israeli military confirmed that he died on October 7.
According to a press release from the hostage families’ forum, Gadi Haggaï’s wife, Judith, 70, is still a hostage in the Palestinian territory, where fighting between Hamas and Israel is raging.
The couple were “taking their usual morning walk” when commandos from the Islamist movement burst into their kibbutz near the Gaza Strip, the forum said.
Judith Haggaï “managed to inform friends that they had come under fire […] this is the last contact with them,” this source said in a press release.
A 70-year-old former teacher, she is considered the oldest woman hostage in Gaza.
“I want to believe that she is still alive, but […] I’m not sure,” said his son Ahl Haggaï in an interview with AFP this month.
PHOTO MARCO LONGARI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Ahl Haggaï poses with a portrait of his mother Judith Haggaï, kidnapped by Hamas on October 7.
Some 250 people were taken hostage during the bloody Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, which left around 1,140 dead, according to an AFP count based on the latest official figures. To date, 129 are still being held in Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
A truce, in place from November 24 to 1er December, allowed the release of 105 hostages in Gaza, including 80 in exchange for 240 Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons.
The Hamas attack in Israel, the deadliest since the creation of the state in 1948, left around 1,140 dead, mostly civilians, according to local authorities.
At least 20,057 people — mostly women, children and adolescents — have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israeli army’s offensive, according to the ruling Hamas authorities.