Second American hostage declared dead in Gaza

A second American hostage in the Gaza Strip was confirmed dead on Thursday, according to multiple reports.

Judy Weinstein Haggai, a 70-year-old American-Israeli dual citizen, was confirmed dead on Thursday, roughly a week after her husband, Gadi, was also declared to have died, Israel National News reported. There are approximately six American hostages remaining in Gaza, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Haggai and her husband were walking through Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7 when Hamas terrorists shot them both, leaving them with critical injuries that resulted in their deaths, according to The Times of Israel. Their bodies remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza.

Another U.S. citizen, Judy Weinstein, was found to have been murdered by Hamas in captivity. Her husband Gad Haggai was also murdered.

The two leave behind four children and seven grandchildren, according to The Times of Israel. Judy was an English teacher who worked with special needs children, and Gadi was a musician and retired chef.

“[Judy was] a poet and an entrepreneur who loved to create and was dedicated to working for peace and friendship,” Kibbutz Nir Oz said in a statement on Thursday, according to The Times of Israel.

“[Gadi was] a musician at heart, a gifted flautist, he played in the IDF Orchestra and was involved with music his whole life,” The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said in a statement reported on Friday.

Hamas is currently holding about 129 hostages in Gaza, 118 of whom are Israeli citizens or dual citizens, and 23 of whom are believed to be dead in captivity, according to The Wall Street Journal. A previous short-term truce deal between Hamas and Israel allowed for the release of over 100 hostages, but it ended after Hamas broke the terms of the deal.

Getting the remaining hostages out is “going to be a long process,” President Joe Biden said on Dec. 5, according to the WSJ. The U.S. has been working with Israel and Qatar to try and strike another temporary truce agreement with Hamas to allow for the release of the remaining hostages.

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