The Israeli army regains the hostages of the hostages in southern Gaza

The Israeli army says that the Israeli forces recovered the bodies of two Israeli Americans who returned to Gaza as hostages during the Hamas -led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

A statement said that Judy Winstein Hagai, 70, who was also a Canadian citizen and her husband Jadi Hagai, 72, was killed by armed men from the Mujahideen Brigades group when they attacked Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Their bodies were found in the southern Khan Yunis area in Gaza overnight and returned to Israel to determine the criminal identity.

There are now 56 hostages by Hamas in Gaza, and it is believed that at least 20 of them are alive.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he and his wife sent their condolences to the families of Judy and Jadi Hagai.

“Our hearts are sad for this terrible loss. They may bless their memories,” he added.

“I would like to thank, and express his appreciation to the fighters and leaders for this specific and successful operation. We will not rest, and we will not be silent, until we return to the house all our hostages – the neighborhoods and the deceased.”

The couple’s families remembered how “they went out on a picnic on Saturday morning and never returned.”

“We welcome the closure and their return to a suitable burial at home, in Israel,” they said.

The last time Judy, English language teacher, and Jadi Hagai, who used to work in Kibbutz Nir Oz’s kitchen, were seen alive in a video clip they shared with a group chat at the beginning of the October 7 attack. They were seen covering a field while the missiles from Gaza were fired in its sky and heard the shooting.

Judy later told friends and relatives that they were injured, before the connection stopped.

The daughter of the couple, Iris Winstein Hagai, said after her mother told her that they “shot terrorists on a motorcycle and that my father was very bad.” “The paramedics tried to send an ambulance. The ambulance hit a missile,” she added.

In December 2023, Kibbutz announced that both Judy and Jadi were killed on that day and that their bodies were held in Gaza.

On Wednesday, an Israeli military official said that the bodies of the couple had been recovered from the Khan Yunis area after an operation that relied on the “accurate intelligence” of the Israeli defense forces (IDF) and the security service of Shin Pitt.

They said they could not reveal more details due to the sensitivity of the operation. However, the Israeli army radio stated that the intelligence was obtained through the interrogation of Shane, a bet of a Palestinian fighter, his family, the Israeli forces in Gaza.

The military official said: “We will continue to do our best to restore the task of returning our hostages, for their families, who died on the noble burial. We will publish all the methods and tools available for this goal,” the military official said.

The hostage and forums forum urged the missing families to make everything in their power to agree on the new ceasefire deal with Hamas to secure the return of all the remaining hostages.

“There is no need to wait for 608 painful days for this,” he said. “The task can be completed early in the morning. This is what the majority of the Israeli people want.”

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the unprecedented cross -border attack nearly 20 months ago, as about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken into account.

Four other people, two of whom were killed, were already detained in Gaza before the conflict.

So far, 199 hostages, 148 of whom were alive, have been returned, most of them through two temporary ceasefire deals with Hamas.

At least 54,677 people were killed in Gaza during the war, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health in the region.

Israel imposed a totally siege on Gaza on March 2 and resumed its military attack against Hamas after two weeks, as a two -month truce collapsed during which 33 Israeli hostages and five Thai hostages were launched. Israel said it wanted to pressure Hamas to launch the remaining hostages.

On May 19, the Israeli army launched an extensive attack that Netanyahu said the forces “control all areas” in Gaza. Israel has also partially alleviated the siege, which allowed some food to enter the lands amid warnings from famine experts looming on the horizon.

According to more than 4,400 people, more than 4,400 people have been killed in Gaza during the past three months, while another 640,000 people have been displaced by Israeli terrestrial operations and evacuation orders.

The hopes of the new ceasefire contract last week faded, with Hamas and Israel remaining unlike the conditions of the last American proposal.

Hamas said it was ready to release 10 live hostages and the bodies of 18 dead, which is the number specified in the proposal of the American envoy Steve Witkev, for a 60 -day truce and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

But the group also repeated its demands to ensure that the truce will lead to a permanent ceasefire, in addition to the full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and the resumption of delivery of unrestricted aid.

Israel described Hamas’s statement by rejecting the proposal, and Witkeov said it was absolutely unacceptable. But Hamas official insisted that he acted positively and responsible.