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Israel Recovers Bodies of 2 Slain Hostages From Gaza
An undated photo of Judith Weinstein-Haggai and Gadi Haggai. Photo: Screenshot
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet security agency recovered the bodies of two deceased hostages during a special operation in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced on Thursday.
Gadi Haggai and Judith Weinstein-Haggai, a married couple with US citizenship, were murdered during their morning walk near their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded southern Israel and perpetrated the largest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Their bodies were taken to Gaza as hostages.
“We will not rest or be silent until we return all of our abductees home — the living and the dead alike,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “Together with all citizens of Israel, my wife and I convey our heartfelt condolences to the dear families. Our hearts grieve over this terrible loss. May their memories be blessed.”
The IDF discovered the corpses of Gadi Haggai and Judith Weinstein-Haggai in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, having announced their deaths in December 2023, and described the operation to retrieve the bodies as designed to prevent the killings of any hostages who remain alive. The IDF said that intelligence from the military and Shin Bet “led to accurate planning of a covert operation, which was carried out while preserving the lives of the other hostages and led to the recovery of the bodies of the two.”
The couple’s daughter, Iris Weinstein Haggai, wrote Thursday on Instagram that “my beautiful parents have been freed. We have certainty. 
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.”
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum released a statement which called the recovery of the couple “painful and heartbreaking” but added that “it also brings healing to our uncertainty.” The group stated that “their return reminds us all that it is the state’s duty to bring everyone home, so that we, the families, together with all the people of Israel, can begin the process of healing and recovery … The mission can be completed as early as tomorrow morning. This is what the majority of the Israeli people want.”
Kibbutz Nir Oz described Judith as an English teacher with expertise instructing special needs students and those struggling with anxiety, while it called her husband “a sharp and gifted brass musician” as well as “a chef, and a devotee of healthy vegan food and sports.”
Of the 251 hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7 atrocities, 55 remain in captivity, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive. Terrorist groups in Gaza are also holding the body of an IDF soldier killed in 2014.
“The State of Israel is morally and nationally committed to returning our brothers and sisters, living and not living, and we will continue acting with determination until the mission is complete,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
Gadi, 72, and Judith, 70, leave behind four children and seven grandchildren.
The post Israel Recovers Bodies of 2 Slain Hostages From Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.