Fate of hostages dominates Israel’s memorial day

Daughter of couple killed on October 7 and taken into Gaza says she has no closure until their bodies are returned

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As Israel marked memorial day on Monday, Iris Haggai Liniado said she cannot have closure despite knowing her parents were killed on October 7th.

Judith Weinstein and Gadi Haggai, killed on the outskirts of Kibbutz Nir Oz, are among 39 people to have been confirmed killed in the Hamas attack and then taken into Gaza.

“I never thought that, by Memorial Day, I wouldn’t have a grave,” their daughter told media from her home in Singapore. “We don’t even have a grave to cry on to and be together as a family … there’s no closure, even though you know they’re dead.”

Nir Oz, less than two kilometres from Gaza, was one of the hardest hit in the attack, with one in four people either killed or taken hostage.

“Memorial Day this year, it’s not just my parents. 51 people were murdered from my kibbutz alone, ten of them are hostages. Most of my friends still have family hostage. Everybody’s in pause. Basically, it’s mourning a life that we once had. And it’s a very lonely feeling.”

The fate of remaining hostages and the bodies of others held in the enclave overshadowed memorial day commemorations on Monday.

Families walked out of a speech given by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, while protesters disrupted a speech given by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv. That protest came hours after relatives of the hostages held a silent demonstration and blocked the city’s main Ayalon motorway.

Speaking at Mount Herzl, Doris Liber, the mother of Guy Iluz, whose body is also being held in Gaza, addressed Mr Netanyahu directly.

“I don’t have a grave to go to. Return them to us,” she was quoted by the Haaretz newspaper as saying.

For almost two months, Ms Haggai Liniado had no confirmation whether her parents were alive or dead. In November, she returned to Israel and scanned the lists of hostages to be released under a temporary ceasefire.

“I can’t explain the torture. Every day we would wait for the release, sometimes it would come at 9am, sometimes it would come at 5pm. And every day I would wait to see if my mum’s name was there.”

“My mum and I, we are American and Canadian. And she was 70, she had all the ‘ticks’ to come out.”

Her father was confirmed dead 79 days after October 7, requiring a committee to prove beyond any doubt that he was killed. Authorities said significant evidence was also procured that Judith was killed, but it was not 100 per cent conclusive.

In recent weeks, Hamas has twice claimed Judith was killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza last month – a claim which her daughter firmly denies.

Audio and video footage shared with media showed videos taken by Judith on October 7th and calls made to Israel’s emergency services after her husband had been killed.

“It’s hard to digest. In Judaism, we sit Shiva, where you sit for seven days and mourn the person you lost, and we can’t even do that. We don’t have a grave – even though you know it’s just a body and the soul is not there, you still want someone to talk to.

“When you see the atrocities that are coming out of Gaza, a lot of people don’t believe me. They don’t believe that my parents were murdered and kidnapped. They say I’m lying.