Jerusalem and London-Perdana Israeli Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday morning that Israeli forces recovered the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages held by Hamas and returned them to Israel.
Judy Weinstein-Hagi, 70, and Gadi Hagi, 72, are couples of Kibbutz Nir Oz close to Gaza Frontier. Both of them are US-Israel dual citizens, with Judy also holding Canadian citizenship.
Their bodies were found from the Khan Younis area in the southern Gaza Strip in a special operation by the Israeli defense forces and the Israeli Security Agency, also known as Shin Bet, according to a statement issued by Netanyahu.
Netanyahu said the couple was killed during Hamas 7 October 2023, attacking and their bodies were kidnapped. IDF had previously decided that they were killed on the day of Hamas’s sudden attack by the same terror group, the book of Al-Mujahidin, who kidnapped and killed Israeli Hostages Shiri Bibas and two of his small children.
Demonstrators burned placards during anti-government protests that called for actions to secure the release of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 31, 2025.
Jack Kuz/AFP via Getty Images
“We will not rest or be quiet until we return to our house – who live and the dead are the same,” Netanyahu said.
Fifty -six hostages remain in Gaza, including 20 are believed to be still alive, according to the numbers provided by the Prime Minister’s office. Two Americans – Itay Chen and Omer Neutra – were among the 36 hostages who were believed to have died.
ABC News’ Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.