The Israel Defense Forces has confirmed the deaths of 22 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza, according to the Times of Israel. On Thursday, a second United States citizen being held captive in Gaza was announced dead. Israeli officials say Judi Weinstein Haggai was actually murdered during the October 7th slaughter of Israelis by Hamas, but that they have been holding her body captive ever since.
Haggai is a 70-year-old New York native who was an English teacher and specialized in working with special needs children, according to Israeli and U.S. media reports. Their Kibbutz Nir Oz last week announced the death of her husband, Gadi Haggai, 73, who was also a U.S. citizen who was taken captive by Hamas. Officials believe he died after being wounded when Hamas took him captive on Oct. 7, per The Times of Israel.
Gadi Haggai’s body is also being held in Gaza. Just The News reports that the couple had been out for a walk the morning of Oct. 7, and their last contact with friends that day was a message about how they had been shot.
According to Fox News six Americans are still being held hostage by Hamas, including Itay Chen, 19; Edan Alexander, 19; Omer Neutra, 21; Sagui Dekel-Chen- 35; Hersh Goldberg Polin and Keith Samuel Siegel.
