Israeli forces recover bodies of 2 hostages with U.S. citizenship held in Gaza

Israel has recovered the bodies of two hostages with dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship, Judith Weinstein-Haggai and Gadi Haggai, whose remains were held by Hamas.

Israeli forces have recovered the bodies of two hostages with dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship, Judith Weinstein-Haggai and Gad Haggai, a married couple whose remains were being held in Gaza since the beginning of the war there in October 2023.

The Israeli military and Shin Bet, Israel's domestic security agency, recovered the bodies of Weinstein-Haggai, 70, and Haggai, 72, in a special operation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Thursday morning.

The couple, from kibbutz Nir Oz, were killed during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

Since then, more than 54,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed in Gaza during Israel's ensuing military offensive, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry there.

The Israeli military and Shin Bet said in a joint statement Thursday that Weinstein-Haggai and Haggai were killed and taken into Gaza by members of the Mujahideen Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement.