Israeli man listed as a hostage has now reportedly been killed

Gadi Haggai, a 73-year-old man who was taken hostage during the Hamas-led invasion of Israel, is now believed to have been killed in the Oct. 7 attack, the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said in a statement Friday.

It said his body was still being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The forum said that Mr. Haggai, a dual citizen of Israel and the United States, and his wife, Judi Weinstein, were shot in the Hamas terror attack while they were taking their regular morning walk in the fields and vineyards of Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Mrs Haggai contacted friends to tell them they had been shot and her husband had been seriously injured, the forum said. It said this was the last time anyone in Israel heard of them. Mrs. Haggai is still being held captive. Her condition is unknown.

“Gadi was a man full of humor who knew how to make those around him laugh,” Liat Bell Sommer, a spokeswoman for the forum, said in a statement, adding that Mr. Haggai was “a musician at heart and kidneys, was a gifted flautist. ”

The forum did not specify how it knew Mr Haggai died during the attack.

As Israel has investigated the October 7 attack, it has learned more about the fate of those who went missing. Earlier this month, Israeli authorities said that Eitan Levy, a 53-year-old man initially thought to have been taken hostage, had actually been killed in the October 7 attack.

Hamas and other Palestinian groups killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped about 240 others in the Oct. 7 attack, Israeli authorities say. It was the deadliest attack in the country’s history.

In addition to murder and kidnapping, some attackers have committed other atrocities, including rape and mutilation of their victims, Israel said.