Tel Aviv, Dec 22 (IANS): The Israeli community of Kibbutz Nir Oz on Friday announced the death of a 73-year-old resident of their community who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 during the attack.

The community has identified the deceased hostage as Gadi Haggai (73). However, they did not reveal the cause of death or how they received the information.

“Haggai’s body still remains in the hands of Hamas,” the community said.

Haggai was father of four children and grandfather to seven. His wife Judith is also in captivity of Hamas and is believed to be injured during the October 7 attack.

The community said that before they were kidnapped during the morning walk, Judith was able to alarm friends by phone about their abduction in which they were shot by Hamas in which Haggai was seriously injured.

During the temporary one week truce from November 24 to December 1, between Hamas and Israel, the Hamas released 105 hostages while 129 hostages still remain in Hamas captivity.

The Israelis believe that out of the remaining 129 hostages, at least 20 hostages have died.

There are thousands of Palestinians in Israeli jails who have been held without any trials and access to legal counsel.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club has said that Israeli forces have arrested more than 4,655 people in the occupied West Bank since October 7.

Israel launched a ground offensive inside Gaza on October 27 after Hamas attacked Israel in a surprise attack on October 7 in which 1200 Israelis were killed and over 200 were taken hostage.

Since the outbreak of hostilities between Hamas and Israel, over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed mostly being children and women while 52,286 Palestinians have been injured.