An elderly Israeli American with deep ties to New York has become the first confirmed US citizen killed while being held hostage by Hamas terrorists, it was announced on Friday.
Gadi Haggai, 73, was killed by a group of terrorists who are still believed to be holding his wife, Judih Weinstein, 70, according to the Hostage and Missing Persons Families Forum, which represents the family.
“Gadi was a man full of humor who knew how to make those around him laugh,” the family group told the Times of Israel.
“A musician at heart, a talented flutist, he played in the IDF Orchestra and was involved with music all his life.”
Haggai, whose mother was born and raised in Manhattan and whose father is from Detroit, and Weinstein, who is from Goshen in upstate New York, moved to Israel 30 years ago, seeking solace in the Jewish state — until the surprise terrorist attack on Hamas on October 7 destroy their peaceful existence.
The couple had been walking as usual outside Kibbutz Nir Oz when armed Hamas militants on motorcycles ambushed them that morning, relatives said.
Kibbutz Nir Oz said on Friday the Israel Defense Forces informed Haggai’s family that he had been killed.
His body is still in the hands of their captors in the Palestinian territories; Weinstein’s fate remains unknown.
Relatives of the couple have launched a frantic search for their relative following the October 7 attack. Haggai’s family
On the day they were attacked, Weinstein managed to call one of the kibbutz members for help, saying he had been shot in the arm and wounded in the face and that Haggai had been shot in the head, according to Haaretz.
Just before the couple was believed to be taken hostage, Weinstein also managed to send a text to his daughter in Singapore. A paramedic then told the couple’s children that he had called for medical help – but they lost contact with him.
“He said they were shot by terrorists on motorcycles and my father was seriously injured,” Iris Weinstein Haggai told the Times of Israel.
Judih Weinstein Haggai and her husband, Gadi Haggai, were walking in the morning near Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 when they were ambushed by radical Hamas terrorists during an attack on Israel. AP
“Paramedics tried to send an ambulance to him. The ambulance was hit by a rocket.”
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The family has not heard from the elderly couple since.
“We know they are seriously injured. We know that [Weinstein] still have the phone with him to be able to call and ask for help and give details. But since then, we lost all contact with them,” the couple’s niece, Ofri Haggai, 47, told The Post last month.
The phone was recovered hours later by Israeli forces – raising hopes that the couple may have been among the more than 220 Israelis taken hostage during the brutal attack, rather than among those killed, he added.
Judi, who is 70 years old, is believed to be still in custody. AP
The quest to find out what happened to his relatives took Ofri Haggai, a global human resources manager in Israel, all the way to his aunt’s home in Orange County, New York, to enlist the help of local politicians.
It remains unclear how officials were able to determine Gadi Haggai had died in custody, as Hamas officials have not commented on the death report.
He is survived by four children and seven grandchildren.
President Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden were “saddened” by the news of Haggai’s death in a statement released Friday.
“We continue to pray for the well-being and safe return of his wife, Judy (sic),” Biden said, noting that the couple’s daughter had been part of a phone call he held with the hostage’s family last week.
“Today we are praying for our four children, seven grandchildren, and other loved ones and are grieving this tragic news with them.”
He further reiterated his pledge to the remaining hostages and their families that the administration “will not stop working to bring them home.”
According to Israel’s official count, 129 people are still in custody in the Gaza Strip.
Of those, 22 have died, the Israeli government said.
The forum said that between five and 10 of the hostages held US citizenship. The US Embassy had no immediate comment.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
