IDF reclaims American-Israeli couple’s bodies from Hamas

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) personnel recovered the bodies of a missing American-Israeli couple Thursday in an overnight military operation in Gaza.

Forces involved in the operation located bodies of Judith and Gad Haggai, aged 70 and 73 respectively, 608 days after they were captured, according to the Wall Street Journal. The couple was attacked and murdered on Oct. 7, 2023, during a launched armed group attack on the Jewish state while they were on their morning walk in their community, Kibbutz Nir Oz, located near the Gaza border.

They were killed by the Palestinian militant group Kitab al-Mujahidin, who then took their bodies back to Gaza to be held with the other 251 hostages taken that day, dead or alive. There are still 56 hostages awaiting rescue or release, per JNS.

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

“Together with all citizens of Israel, my wife and I extend our heartfelt condolences to the dear families,” Israeli Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu said in a post to X, “The heart grieves for the most terrible loss. May their memory be blessed.”

The Haggai’s both had ties to New York and moved to Israel 30 years ago for the peace the state provided, the New York Post reported in 2023. Judith was a native of Goshen, New York, and Gad’s parents hailed from Manhattan and Detroit.

The IDF has been working to recover the hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attacks, estimating that 20 captives are still alive, while more than 30 bodies are being harbored in Gaza. The recovery comes after weeks of turbulence surrounding the release of former hostage Shem Tov and the upcoming eight-day protest by a far-left activist organization seeking to “break the Israel blockade” of the Gaza Strip.

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