A 70-year-old woman originally from New York was killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, according to officials who just days ago confirmed her husband also died in the bloodshed.
Judy Weinstein was wounded and died from her injuries during the attacks, a spokesperson for Kibbutz Nir Oz said Thursday. The 70-year-old Weinstein was an Israeli-American-Canadian citizen who worked as an English teacher, specializing in children with special needs, the spokesperson said.
Weinstein and her husband, 73-year-old Gadi Haggai, were reportedly on a morning walk when Hamas militants invaded Kibbutz Nir Oz, abducting the couple alongside hundreds of others. The couple had reportedly been shot during the attack and both died as a result. Their bodies were taken by Hamas, where they remain still, the spokesperson said.
The deaths of Haggai and Weinstein were not confirmed until more than two months after the early October attacks, with word of Weinstein's death coming just days after it was confirmed her husband died as a result of injuries suffered during the attacks.
There were few details known about either's passing, including how they died.
Both Haggai and Weinstein were members of Kibbutz Nir Oz. Weinstein was born in Goshen, New York (Orange County), New York Rep. Pat Ryan previously said. Haggai was born and raised in Kibbutz Ein HaShofet.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Rep. Ryan called Weinstein's death "truly devastating" and said she and her husband were "killed only for being Jewish." He said they are trying to get the couple's bodies returned home.
