Slain US-Israeli hostages Gad Haggai and Judy Weinstein Haggai returned to Israel
The bodies of a US-Israeli hostage couple have been recovered after their daughter, a former Australian resident well known in the local Jewish community, spent years begging for their release.
Middle East
Don't miss out on the headlines from Middle East. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The bodies of two Israeli-Americans killed by Palestinian militants in their October 7, 2023 attack and held in Gaza have been returned to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday.
Gad Haggai and Judy Weinstein Haggai were residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the communities hit hardest by the Hamas-led attack, with nearly a quarter of its residents killed or taken hostage.
Their daughter Iris Weinstein Haggai – a textile designer who lived and worked in Sydney’s Bondi for years until 2020 – is well known within the Australian Jewish community.
“In a special operation by the Shin Bet (security agency) and the (military) in the Gaza Strip, the bodies of two of our hostages held by the murderous terrorist organisation Hamas were returned to Israel,” Mr Netanyahu said.
“May their memory be blessed.”
Speaking to this masthead in December, Ms Weinstein Haggai said her parents, who are dual US-Israeli citizens, were taking their morning week in the fields near their home of Kibbutz Nir Oz when they were brutally slaughtered by Hamas.
“I need closure, I need to bury their bodies,” Ms Weinstein Haggai said.
A joint statement from the army and the Shin Bet said the bodies were recovered from the Khan Yunis area of the southern Gaza Strip in an overnight operation which concluded early Thursday local time.
“The rescue operation was conducted by … troops in co-ordination with the intelligence directorate and special forces,” it added.
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 per cent of its houses were destroyed during the attack.
A spokesperson said 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 Mr Haggai was 72 at the time of the October 2023 attack and Ms Weinstein Haggai was 70.
Mr Haggai, a music lover and talented cook, and Ms Haggai Weinstein, a former English teacher, have four children and seven grandchildren, according to the kibbutz.
Ms Haggai Weinstein also held Canadian citizenship.
“We welcome the closure of the circle and their return for a proper burial at home, in Israel,” their family was quoted as saying in the statement from Kibbutz Nir Oz, thanking the military and “everyone who supported, fought, prayed and struggled for us”.
FOLLOW UPDATES BELOW:
‘DECLARED INTENT TO ATTACK’: GRETA’S AID SHIP REACTS TO ISRAEL
Activists on board a ship headed to war-torn Gaza including prominent climate campaigner Greta Thunberg have condemned what they say is Israel’s “declared intent to attack” their vessel.
The Madleen ship, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), left Sicily on Sunday carrying humanitarian aid and is due to arrive on June 7.
Israel’s military said Tuesday it was ready to “protect” the country’s seas.
“The navy operates day and night to protect Israel’s maritime space and borders at sea,” army spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said.
Asked about the aid vessel, he said: “For this case as well, we are prepared.”
He added: “We have gained experience in recent years, and we will act accordingly.”
The Walla news site reported that Israeli navy commandos are preparing for the possibility of seizing the vessel.
In a statement on Wednesday, the activist coalition said it “strongly condemns Israel’s declared intent to attack Madleen”, calling it a “threat”.
“Madleen carries humanitarian aid and international human rights defenders in direct challenge to Israel’s illegal, decades-long blockade, and ongoing genocide” in Gaza, it said.
The coalition said that on Tuesday evening, off the coast of the Greek island of Crete, the Madleen “was approached and circled by a drone, followed, several hours later by two additional drones”.
It said it was later informed these were surveillance drones operated by the Greek coastguard, EU border agency Frontex or both.
Israel recently eased a more than two-month blockade on war-ravaged Gaza, but the aid community has urged it to allow in more food, faster.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, launched in 2010, is an international movement supporting Palestinians, combining humanitarian aid with political protest against the blockade on Gaza.
The Madleen is a small sailboat reportedly carrying fruit juices, milk, rice, tinned food and protein bars.
In early May, the Freedom Flotilla ship Conscience was damaged in international waters off Malta as it headed to Gaza, with the activists saying they suspected an Israeli drone attack.
US BLOCKS CEASEFIRE RESOLUTION AT UN
The United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access in Gaza, which Washington claimed undermined ongoing diplomacy to resolve the conflict.
It was the 15-member body’s first vote on the situation since November, when the United States – a key Israeli ally – also blocked a text calling for an end to fighting.
“This resolution would undermine diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire that reflects the realities on the ground and emboldens Hamas,” Washington’s United Nations envoy Dorothy Shea said ahead of the vote.
“This resolution also draws false equivalence between Israel and Hamas,” she said.
The US has come under fire from UN Security Council members.
Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN Asim Ahmad meanwhile said the failed resolution would “remain not only a moral stain on the conscience of this council, but a fateful moment of political application that will reverberate for generations.”
China’s ambassador to the UN Fu Cong said: “Today’s vote result once again exposes that the root cause of the council’s inability to quell the conflict in Gaza is the repeated obstruction by the US.”
The draft resolution had demanded “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza respected by all parties.”
It also called for the “immediate, dignified and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups.” Underlining a “catastrophic humanitarian situation” in the Palestinian territory, the resolution, had it passed, would have demanded the lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
US-BACKED AID ORG SUSPENDS GAZA OPS
A US and Israeli-backed group operating aid sites in Gaza shut its facilities on Wednesday, as the Israeli army warned that roads leading to distribution centres were “considered combat zones”.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s move followed a string of deadly incidents near distribution sites it operates that drew sharp condemnation from the United Nations.
Israeli bombardment on Wednesday killed at least 48 people across the Gaza Strip, including 14 in a single strike on a tent sheltering displaced people, the civil defence agency said.
A day earlier, the civil defence and the International Committee of the Red Cross said 27 people were killed when Israeli troops opened fire near a GHF site in southern Gaza. The military said the incident was under investigation.
Britain called for an “immediate and independent investigation”, echoing a demand from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
UK Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer said the deaths of Palestinians as they sought food were “deeply disturbing” as he called Israel’s new measures for aid delivery “inhumane”.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said “these are not isolated incidents” and called for accountability.
Israel recently eased its blockade of Gaza, but the United Nations says the territory’s entire population remains at risk of famine.
MORE STARVING PALESTINIANS SHOT
Rescuers said the Israeli military killed at least 27 people near a US-backed aid centre in Gaza on Tuesday, with the army reporting it had fired on “suspects who advanced toward the troops”.
The UN human rights chief condemned such attacks on civilians as “a war crime” after a similar shooting in the same area on Sunday killed and wounded scores of Palestinians seeking aid, according to the civil defence agency.
The deaths in Rafah came as rescuers reported 19 people killed in other Israeli attacks in the territory, and as the Israeli army announced three soldiers had been killed in northern Gaza.
“Twenty-seven people were killed and more than 90 injured in the massacre targeting civilians who were waiting for American aid in the Al-Alam area of Rafah,” said civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal, who earlier told AFP the deaths occurred “when Israeli forces opened fire with tanks and drones”.
The Al-Alam roundabout is about a kilometre from a centre run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a recently formed group that Israel has worked with to implement a new aid distribution mechanism in the territory.
The United Nations and major aid groups have refused to co-operate with the group over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
The military said a crowd was moving towards the aid centre when troops saw them “deviating from the designated access routes”.
“The troops carried out warning fire, and after the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops,” it said, adding it was looking into reports of casualties.
At Nasser Hospital, the husband and children of Reem Al-Akhras, who was killed at Al-Alam, were beside themselves with grief.
“How can I let you go, mum?” her son Zain Zidan said through tears as he cradled her white-shrouded head outside the hospital.
“She went to bring us some food, and this is what happened to her.” Akhras’s husband, Mohamed Zidan, said “every day, unarmed people” were being killed.
“They carry no weapons or knives – just bags to collect aid. “This is not humanitarian aid; it’s a trap,” he said.
‘PALESTINIANS ARE RISKING THEIR LIVES FOR FOOD’
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an independent investigation into the deaths of at least 31 Palestinians near a US-backed aid distribution site in Gaza, after rescuers blamed the deaths on Israeli gunfire.
“I am appalled by the reports of Palestinians killed and injured while seeking aid in Gaza yesterday,” Mr Guterres said.
“It is unacceptable that Palestinians are risking their lives for food.
“I call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for perpetrators to be held accountable.”
SIX KIDS AMONG 14 KILLED IN ISRAELI STRIKE ON GAZA HOME
Gaza’s civil defence agency said an Israeli strike on a home in the northern town of Jabalia on Sunday killed 14 people.
“The number of martyrs from the targeting of the Al-Bursh family home has risen to 14, including six children and three women, in addition to more than 20 missing individuals still under the rubble,” agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP on Monday.
– with AFP
More Coverage
Originally published as Slain US-Israeli hostages Gad Haggai and Judy Weinstein Haggai returned to Israel
Read related topics:Israel Conflict
Join the conversation
Israel demands Hamas accept hostage deal or be ‘annihilated’
Israel has threatened Hamas with ‘annihilation’ if the Palestinian militant group refuses to accept a hostage deal as US President Donald Trump announces a ceasefire deal is ‘very close’.
Read more
Gaza rescuers say 50 killed as Israel orders evacuations
The latest evacuation warning for Gaza has come just hours after the United Nations said it had begun distributing truckloads of aid as Israeli strikes continue, killing 50. Follow live updates.
Read more