Israel Defence Forces recovered the bodies of two hostages, Judi Weinstein Haggai, a Canadian-American citizen and her husband Gadi Haggai, who were killed on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded their home of Kibbutz Nir Oz.
In a statement on June 5, the IDF confirmed the couple’s bodies were recovered during “a special military operation” near Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
Seven Canadians were killed in the Oct. 7 attack, and Weinstein Haggai was the only Canadian hostage.
The couple were on their usual early morning walk on Oct, 7 in the fields surrounding the kibbutz when they were shot. Haggai was killed immediately and Weinstein Haggai was injured, shot in the hand and face, she told emergency services, in a recently released recording of her final phone call. The operator told her that help was on the way, but the kibbutz’s ambulance had been destroyed in the attack and never arrived. The couple’s bodies were taken to Gaza as bargaining chips, where they were held for 19 months.
The couple’s adult children saw footage of Gadi’s body being taken to Gaza, but did not learn until December 2023, that their mother was also killed.
Iris Haggai Liniado, one of the couple’s four adult children, posted online that her family finally had a resolution to their heartache.
“My beautiful parents have been freed. We have certainty,” she wrote.
“Thank you to the IDF, the FBI, the Israeli and the American governments and to everyone who supported and is supporting us and all hostage families always – We couldn’t have breathed without you. 2 WOMEN are still held by monsters in Gaza, 56 hostages are held hostage in Gaza, our hearts will not be whole until all 56 hostages are back home. They must all come home.”
Liniado, who lives in Singapore with her young family, was travelling to Israel and was not available for interviews.
About one-quarter of Nir Oz’s population, 117 people, were either kidnapped or murdered during the Oct. 7 attack. Among those who were kidnapped were the Bibas family, Yarden, Shiri and their two young children. Video of a terrified Shiri Bibas, her two little red-headed boys in her arms being taken by terrorists, was seen worldwide. Shiri and her children were killed in Gaza just weeks after the attack, however their bodies were not returned until February 2025. Yarden Bibas was released in February 2025.
Liniado was tireless in trying to secure her parents’ return, travelling frequently to Washington, D.C. and Ottawa to lobby politicians to push for her parents’ release.
She also travelled to The Hague and spoke on behalf of hostages’ families when the Canadian-based Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights filed a legal brief before the International Criminal Court.
In January 2025, she attended US President Donald Trump’s inauguration and credited Trump’s administration for negotiating a multi-stage release of some of the hostages, while at the same time, she hoped her parents’ bodies would be released for a proper burial in Israel.
In Canada, Liniado met with former prime minister Justin Trudeau and former foreign affairs minister Mélanie Joly, pleading with them to pressure the International Red Cross to visit the hostages, and confirm who was even alive. However, the Canadian politicians were less transparent and helpful than their American counterparts, she said.
Gadi, 72, when he died, was a chef and musician, and held dual American and Israeli citizenship.
Judi, who was 70, was born in New York state, and moved with her family to Toronto when she was two years old, and lived in the city for 22 years.
She was an English teacher, who specialized in teaching children with special needs.
“She had classes for Palestinian and Israeli children together because she believed in cooperation,” her brother Larry Weinstein told The CJN in December 2023. “She was somebody who believed in peace. And she actually lived so close to the border of Gaza that she felt a tremendous empathy for her Palestinian neighbours. She didn’t like where the politics of Israel were going.”
She made puppets for the classes she taught and wrote a haiku poem daily, her family has said.
Liniado has returned several times to Kibbutz Nir Oz, where nearly every home was damaged in the attack. In December 2024, she took her family to Israel, the first time they have visited since Oct. 7. Her eldest daughter, who is 8, was heartbroken when she fully grasped that she was not going to be able to visit her grandparents on their kibbutz again, Iris said.
“Being there really emphasized that she’s not going to see them again, yet she kept asking me, ‘Mommy, if we don’t have a grave how do you know they’re dead?’” said Liniado.
“I should not have to answer that question and I’m going to have to answer that question until they come back,” she told The CJN in January.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a statement on June 5, paid tribute to Judi Weinstein’s contributions.
“Ms. Weinstein was a mother, grandmother, teacher, and mentor, who dedicated her life to guiding others with empathy, charity, and humanity” Carney said.
“Since October 7, Jewish communities have faced a reprehensible resurgence of antisemitism. It has to stop. We cannot look away from the power of antisemitism and its radicalization – we must confront it, denounce it, and act to keep Jewish Canadians safe.
“The government is fighting the horrifying rise in hate, protecting our communities, and working with our allies to promote long-term peace and security in the Middle East – including calling for Hamas to lay down its arms, release all remaining hostages immediately, and have no role in the future of a Palestinian state.”
Noah Shack, interim president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, also called on Canada to continue to lobby for the release of the remaining hostages and to ensure there is no role for Hamas in Gaza.
“Today, we learned that the body of Judi Weinstein Haggai, a fellow Canadian, and her husband Gadi have been recovered from Gaza,” Shack said in a statement.
“Our hearts are with their children, grandchildren, and loved ones – who fought tirelessly for their return, from Parliament Hill to the public square. But our hearts won’t be whole until all 56 hostages still held in Gaza are brought home.
“Hamas’ atrocities are among the worst crimes against humanity the world has ever seen. It is essential that the Government of Canada upholds its commitment: the Israeli hostages must be immediately returned and there can be no future for Hamas in Gaza.”
