FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 22, 2023
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On December 20th, Hamas Rejected Israel’s Offer of Weeklong Ceasefire in Return for Releasing Women, Children, and Elderly Hostages Held by Hamas
WASHINGTON, D.C. – After three days of Hamas refusing to release women, children, and the elderly it is holding hostage in exchange for a weeklong pause in fighting, Hamas murdered Gadi Haggai, a 73 year-old American “with deep ties to New York” who is the “first U.S. citizen confirmed to have died while being held hostage by Hamas terrorists,” according to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum as reported by the New York Post. The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum shared that Gadi’s 70 year-old widow, Judi Weinstein, is still being held hostage by the same Hamas terrorists who killed her husband. Weinstein was shot during the October 7th massacre.
Key Excerpts
- Gadi Haggai, 73, was murdered by the terrorists who are still thought to be holding his 70-year-old wife, Judi Weinstein, according to the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum representing the families.
- [On October 7th,] Weinstein managed to call one of the kibbutz members for help, saying she had been shot in the arm and was wounded in the face and Gadi had been shot in his head, according to Haaretz. She was also able to text her daughter in Singapore, and a paramedic later told the couple’s children that Weinstein had called for medical help — but they lost contact with her.
- “She said they were shot by terrorists on a motorcycle and that my dad was wounded really bad,” Iris Weinstein Haggain told the Times of Israel. “Paramedics tried to send her an ambulance. The ambulance got hit by a rocket.” The family had not heard from the elderly couple since.
- Gadi, whose mother was born and raised in Manhattan and whose father is from Detroit, and Judi, a native of upstate Goshen, moved to Israel 30 years ago, seeking solace in the Jewish state — until the unexpected horror struck them last month. He leaves behind four children and seven grandchildren.
- “Gadi was a man full of humor who knew how to make those around him laugh,” the families group told the Times of Israel. “A musician at heart, a gifted flautist, he played in the IDF Orchestra and was involved with music his whole life.”
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