Gaza War: Oldest Woman Held Captive By Hamas Dead, US President 'Devastated'

Judith Weinstein who was believed to be a hostage of Hamas was killed on October 7. US president Joe Biden said him and the First Lady Jill Biden were devastated by the news.

A 70-year-old US-Israeli woman, Judith Weinstein Haggai, believed to be the oldest person to be held captive by Palestinian group Hamas, had died in the October 7 attacks, AFP reported. The announcement by a kibbutz community comes as families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza rallied in Jerusalem for their release.

Reacting to Haggai's death, US President Joe Biden said he was “devastated” and pledged that Washington would "not stop working" to bring the remaining hostages home.

"This cuts deep following the news that Gad Haggai, Judy's husband, is also believed to have been killed by Hamas. Earlier this month I spoke with their daughter and will never forget the words she shared with me," Biden posted on X.

The Haggai couple had come under fire by Hamas gunmen when they stormed the Nir Oz kibbutz on October 7. Judith's husband was believed to have been seriously wounded in the attack.

Israel Resorts To Heavy Bombardment Near Shelters

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Israeli forces bombarded the southern city of Khan Yunis where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge. UN World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for "urgent steps to alleviate the grave peril" being faced by people of Gaza, including "terrible injuries, acute hunger and severe risk of disease", as per the AFP report.

The Israeli Army said it had deployed an additional brigade to Khan Yunis, hometown of Hamas' Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar. Meanwhile, Palestinian Red Crescent society reported that shelling had killed at least 10 people near the city's Al-Amal hospital, which is near an area where about 14,000 people have sought shelter.

According to the report, Hamas-run Gaza's Health Ministry said 20 people were killed, most of them women and children, and dozens were wounded in shelling of the Shaboura camp in the southern city of Rafah.

Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the ministry, reported an additional 200 deaths, "including entire families", over the past 24 hours in various strikes.

On October 7, Hamas stormed Israeli towns in an unprecedented attack, killing soldiers and civilians. Thousands of rockets were also fired into Israeli territory and the outfit took 250 hostages, more than half of whom still remain captive. In retaliation, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and in its relentless aerial bombardment and ground invasion, have killed at least 21,320 people, mostly women and children.