Bodies of two captives recovered from Gaza, says 'Israeli' army

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) announced on Thursday the recovery of the bodies of two captives, Gadi Haggai and Judith Weinstein, from Gaza. The couple, who were Captured during the October 7th events from the Nir Oz kibbutz settlement. 

In a statement, 'Israeli' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “During a special operation carried out by Shin Bet (the Israeli internal security service) and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip, the bodies of two of our hostages held by the murderous terrorist organization Hamas were transferred to Israel: Judith Weinstein Haggai and Gadi Haggai from Kibbutz Nir Oz.” He added, “Judith and Gadi were killed on October 7 and kidnapped to Gaza.”

He added that the Hamas Brigades held the bodies of Weinstein and Haggai after they were killed during the events of October 7th, and the bodies were transferred to Gaza. Netanyahu stated that their deaths were confirmed in December 2023.

Following the retrieval, the bodies underwent identification at the National Center of Forensic Medicine in coordination with the 'Israeli' Police. The authorities notified the family and the community of Nir Oz.

Both Judith Weinstein and Gadi Haggai held American citizenship, while Gadi also held Canadian citizenship.