IDF Recovers Bodies of U.S.-Israeli Couple Murdered by Hamas on October 7
The Times of Israel: “Haggai, 72, and Weinstein, 70, were on their morning walk near their home at Kibbutz Nir Oz when they were murdered and abducted to Gaza by Hamas-led terrorists.”
The Israeli military, on Wednesday night, recovered the bodies of an Israeli-American couple whom Palestinian terrorists murdered on October 7, 2023.
Judi Weinstein Haggai, 70, and her husband, Gadi Haggai, 72, were killed by the Iran-backed Mujahideen Brigades terrorist group near Kibbutz Nir Oz, and their bodies were taken to Gaza.
“Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet recovered the bodies of Judy Lynn Weinstein Haggai and Gadi Haggai from the Khan Yunis area in the southern Gaza Strip,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported. “The couple, longtime residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz, were murdered and kidnapped on October 7, 2023, by terrorists from the extremist group Kataeb al-Mujahideen during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.”
“The rescue operation was conducted by IDF troops in coordination with the Intelligence Directorate and special forces,” the military said in a press statement Thursday. “The operation was made possible as a result of precise intelligence provided by the Hostage Task Force, the Intelligence Directorate, and the ISA.”
“Following an identification procedure carried out by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, the Israel Police, and the IDF Manpower Directorate’s Hostage Task Force, the family and the community of Nir Oz were notified,” the military added.
Judi and Gad Haggai were beloved parents, grandparents, and members of Kibbutz Nir Oz. They were held hostage for 608 days by terrorists in Gaza.
On October 7, 2023, while taking their daily morning walk around the kibbutz, they were murdered and abducted.
Judi, a devoted… pic.twitter.com/Y0iot0Fbyp
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 5, 2025
The couple, who were taking a morning walk when the October 7 attack began, were captured by the terrorists outside their community. “Haggai, 72, and Weinstein, 70, were on their morning walk near their home at Kibbutz Nir Oz when they were murdered and abducted to Gaza by Hamas-led terrorists,” The Times of Israel reported. “Security camera footage from that morning showed the couple leaving the kibbutz.”
Their bodies were located based on the information collected from the interrogation of captured terrorists, Israeli news reports confirm.
Ynetnews reported the details of the recovery operation:
The recovery followed precise intelligence gathered by the Hostage Task Force, the Shin Bet internal security agency and Military Intelligence. According to Israeli officials, key information that enabled the rescue was obtained from interrogations of captured terrorists. One detainee provided a detail that significantly reinforced intelligence assessments, enabling the overnight operation between Wednesday and Thursday.
Israeli forces recovered the bodies of Gad Haggai and Judi Weinstein-Haggai in a covert overnight operation in the Khan Younis area of Gaza, officials confirmed Thursday, as new details emerged about the intelligence-led mission that brought them home.
Since the outbreak of the war, the Shin Bet has interrogated thousands of Hamas fighters, extracting information about the terror group’s infrastructure, maneuvering forces and the locations of hostages — both living and deceased. The Haggais were reportedly held in Khan Younis by a smaller terror faction known as al-Mujahedeen.
The couple, dual U.S.-Israeli citizens and longtime residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz, were abducted by Hamas on the morning of October 7, 2023. They had gone for a walk near their home around 6 a.m., just minutes before the cross-border assault began. Surveillance footage from the kibbutz shows them leaving the front gate at 6:06 a.m.
Roughly an hour later, Judi made a desperate phone call to a fellow kibbutz member who also served as a volunteer medic with Magen David Adom. “Gadi and I were shot,” she told him. He attempted to dispatch an ambulance, but terrorists intercepted and torched the vehicle. Gad’s children identified his body being dragged into Gaza in footage from that day, but authorities initially said they could not confirm his death. (…)
Roughly an hour later, Judi made a desperate phone call to a fellow kibbutz member who also served as a volunteer medic with Magen David Adom. “Gadi and I were shot,” she told him. He attempted to dispatch an ambulance, but terrorists intercepted and torched the vehicle. Gad’s children identified his body being dragged into Gaza in footage from that day, but authorities initially said they could not confirm his death.
Gadi Haggai, 72, and Judi Weinstein-Haggai, 70, used to take early morning walks near their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
On October 7, the American-Israeli couple was shot by Hamas terrorists in the fields, as the attackers drove along the road to the kibbutz.
Gadi was shot in the… pic.twitter.com/Yx8O5yoGHw
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) June 5, 2025
The i24NEWS described Judi, a mother of four and a grandmother of seven, as “a devoted English teacher who worked with children with special needs and anxiety, using mindfulness and meditation techniques. She was also a poet, artist, and lifelong advocate for peace.”
Gadi “was a passionate wind instrument player, vegan chef, and sports enthusiast known for his deep connection to the land,” the news outlet added.
Hamas is still holding 56 hostages, of whom only 20 are believed to be alive. The terrorist group has refused to accept the latest ceasefire plan proposed by President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Gadi Haggai, 72, and Judi Weinstein-Haggai, 70, moved to Kibbutz Nir Oz 30 years ago.
According to the kibbutz, Judi was volunteering there when she first heard Gadi playing the flute, and fell in love.
They had four children and seven grandchildren.
Judi, a dual… pic.twitter.com/rMscPrDV8n
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) June 5, 2025
IDF hits Islamic Jihad terrorist command center in northern Gaza
As the IDF operation ‘Gideon’s Chariots’ entered its second month, Israeli fighter jets struck a command and control center of the Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist group hidden inside a hospital in a Gaza city.
The strike was aimed at an unnamed senior PIJ terrorist, the statement issued by the IDF suggests. “A short while ago, the IDF precisely struck an Islamic Jihad terrorist who was operating in a command and control center in the yard of the Al Ahli Hospital in the area of Gaza City in central Gaza Strip,” the military said in a statement Thursday. “The command and control center was used by the terrorist to plan and execute terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops.”
While Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorist groups continue to embed themselves in civilian areas, the Israeli armed forces undertook painstaking measures to minimize civilian casualties during the strike. “The terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip continue to use the hospital for terrorist activity, cynically and brutally using the civilian population in the hospital and its surroundings,” the IDF added. “Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence.”
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Comments
Savages.
.
Savages only understand one thing, fire and brimstone.
Barbarians
They looked so much in love
Maybe now rest in peace….
Savages…
Zero outrage or opprobrium from vile, stupid and evil European, leftist dhimmis and American Dhimmi-crats (and, their media shills) regarding the plight of the hostages still alive and the murders of the others by the genocidal goose-stepping, Islamofascist/Muslim supremacist Hamas thugs.
We are repeatedly told the slanderous lie that the victims are alleged “settlers” and “colonizers” who possessed the temerity to live on land where Jews have been living for millennia before the founding of the wretched, supremacist, totalitarian, belligerent, hate-filled and pathology-laden ideology of “Submission.”
For those “crimes,” the kidnapping and murder of Israeli Jews is allegedly justified, according to the morally warped and evil European dhimmi/American Dhimmi-crat ethos.
Note too that the supposed settlement where they lived is well within the Green Line.
something wrong with a world that attacks the superior peace loving american/israelis and coddles the violent blmplo armies
good on the idf / special forces–a solemn mission indeed
may the israelis bring all their people home and continue to deliver justice to those responsible for these unconscionable acts
may these two rest in peace–condolences to their loved ones
“ Their bodies were located based on the information collected from the interrogation of captured terrorists, About the only good reason I can think of for taking any of them alive.
the taking of human bodies or body parts as “trophys” has for millenia been the mark of barbarians
if you will not or cannot attend to them in situ, leave them that survivors/loved ones may attend them afterward
from the campuses to the congress
hammas will surround us
May they Rest in Peace.
May G-d avenge their blood. 🩸
Here’s your daily reminder that Islam is a metastasizing cancer upon humanity.
I don’t foresee a Muslim version of Martin Luther nailing 99 theses on the front door of the local mosque. We know what happens to apostates in Islam.
As difficult as it must be, Israel is doing the right thing in Gaza. Leave no stone unturned (literally in their case) in rooting out Hamas to the very last savage.
May the memory of Haggis be a blessing to their family.
When will a federal judge order they be returned?
Two wonderful human beings who were savagely murdered by a bunch of subhuman creatures. The crazy thing is that people like Piers Morgan and so many Democrats, as well as woke right Republicans feel that Israel has to take care of the very people who did this atrocity and/or cheered it on. We live in a crazy world.
From the river to the sea Israel will be free.
GENESIS 15:18
On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates …”
An additional 999 upticks!
.
love it but think my scenario is more likely to happen first
This interview of Douglas Murray by Jordan Peterson is relevant. Some people lack a basic understanding of evil (and therefore, of good). They suffer from a lack of imagination regarding human depravity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyNHvGEJrpY