Hamas Confirms US-Canadian Hostage and Other Captive Killed
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Hamas claims a hostage previously confirmed deceased and another captive died of wounds from an Israeli attack, Israeli sources say.
Hamas spokesperson Abu Obaida reportedly claimed that Israeli-US-Canadian citizen Judith Weinstein, 70, and another unnamed hostage held in Gaza “succumbed to their wounds as a result of Israeli bombardment.”
In a Hamas video, text appeared in English, Arabic, and Hebrew saying, “Judith Weinstein was seriously injured on October 7 and was given intensive treatment in a hospital in the Gaza Strip. Immediately upon her recovery, she was returned to her place of detention” where she was apparently killed.
The video continued to show a series of videos of buildings struck in Israeli airstrikes.
Israel’s military has denied deliberately targeting civilians, saying Hamas is using innocent people, including hostages, as human shields.
The Hamas video also discussed the unnamed hostage, saying, “A month ago, she was seriously injured in a Zionist airforce attack along with another detainee, but she died due to the lack of intensive treatment in the Gaza Strip because the Zionist army destroyed the hospitals.”
The video showed footage of Shifa hospital after the alleged Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attack, showing the building’s destruction.
ARMY DESTRUCTION
The footage concluded with text saying, “Your army’s destruction of hospitals and putting them out of service is what caused the suffering and death of your detainees, just as our people suffer.”
Before Hamas’ latest announcement, Israel’s Kibbutz Nir Oz already confirmed Judith Weinstein’s death on October 7 in December.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum published an undated photo of happier times showing Judy Weinstein embracing her husband, Gadi Haggai, in Bayview Village Park in Toronto, Canada.
They were both murdered by Hamas, and their bodies are still in Gaza as of December 28, 2023, according to Israeli officials and friends.
U.S. President Joe Biden said at the time that he and his wife Jill “are devastated to learn that American Judy Weinstein is also believed to have been killed by Hamas on October 7. This tragic development cuts deep, coming on the heels of last week’s news that Judy’s beloved husband, Gad Haggai, is believed to have been killed by Hamas.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared those sentiments, adding: “Hamas’ horrific terrorist attacks killed Canadian citizens on October 7. We now know Judy Weinstein was among the victims that day. I’m heartbroken by the news, and I’m keeping the loved ones of all eight Canadians in my thoughts. May all their memories be a blessing.”
The latest news about their death came as relatives of hostages still held by Hamas face emotions of hope and devastation.
MORE VIDEO
On Saturday, Hamas released new undated video footage of two men— including an American citizen — held hostage in Gaza.
The video showed the two men alive and was released on the Palestinian group’s social media channel.
The hostages seen on the video were identified as Omri Miran and Keith Siegel by the campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
In the statement, the campaign group said the video shows the hostages “for the first time after 204 days in captivity.”
Israel says that 133 hostages are still in captivity, ranging from toddlers to the elderly and that 36 of those hostages are confirmed dead.
But the fates of about 100 hostages — including Israelis and foreign nationals, peace activists and soldiers, mothers, and grandfathers — are still unclear, six months after the start of the war, Israeli officials acknowledge.
The uncertainty is reportedly complicating negotiations but also leaving the hostages’ families in anguish.
PAIN EXPONENTIAL
The pain of each passing day “is almost exponential,” said Jon Polin, the father of 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a dual Israeli-American citizen who was abducted from an outdoor music festival on October 7.
Besides abducting about 250 people, some of whom have since been released, Hamas also killed about 1,200 people in Israel that day.
What became known as the “Black Sabbath” triggered a war in Gaza in which thousands died.
At least 34,735 Palestinians were killed and 78,108 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry said in a statement Monday.
Hamas doesn’t differentiate between combatants and civilians, and the figures have been impossible to verify independently.
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