According to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum, Gadi Haggai, a 73-year-old man who was taken hostage in the Hamas-led invasion of Israel, is now believed to have died in the Oct. 7 attacks. His body is reportedly still being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The forum also stated that Mr. Haggai, a dual citizen of Israel and the United States, and his wife, Judi Weinstein, were shot during the Hamas terror attack while they were on their regular morning walk in the fields and vineyards of Kibbutz Nir Oz. Ms. Haggai, who managed to contact friends to inform them of the attack and her husband’s critical condition, is still being held captive, with her condition unknown.
Liat Bell Sommer, a spokeswoman for the forum, described Mr. Haggai as “a man full of humor who knew how to make those around him laugh” and “a musician at heart, a gifted flutist.”
The forum did not specify how it knew that Mr. Haggai died during the attack. As Israel continues to investigate the Oct. 7 attack, more information about the fate of those who went missing has been revealed. Earlier this month, Israeli authorities confirmed that Eitan Levy, a 53-year-old man initially thought to have been taken hostage, had actually been killed in the Oct. 7 attacks.
Israeli authorities claim that Hamas and other Palestinian groups killed roughly 1,200 people and abducted around 240 others during the Oct. 7 attacks, making it the deadliest attack in the country’s history. In addition to murder and kidnapping, some attackers also committed other atrocities, including rape and mutilation of their victims, according to Israel.