Released hostage Hannah Katzir dies

Gazan terrorists claimed the Nir Oz resident had been killed in an Israeli airstrike – before freeing her in the only hostage deal to date.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Hannah Katzir, 76, a resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz who had been kidnapped by Gazan terrorists during the October 7 invasion and then released in a hostage deal last November, died Tuesday.

“With great sorrow, we announce the passing of Kibbutz member Hannah Katzir, of blessed memory, following a prolonged struggle with complex medical issues after her release from captivity,” a statement from the kibbutz said.

She was buried Tuesday afternoon in the community’s cemetery.

Katzir was brutally dragged from her home and held captive in Gaza by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists working in tandem with Hamas, the ruling terror group in the Strip.

Her husband, Rami, was murdered during the attack on their kibbutz.

Her son Elad was taken captive as well and subsequently murdered in Gaza. IDF forces conducted a rescue operation in April in Khan Yunis to return his body for burial in Israel.

She was freed seven weeks later along with 12 other women and children in the first release of hostages by Hamas in exchange for a temporary ceasefire, female and underage Palestinian security prisoners, and increased humanitarian aid.

Several days before her release, the PIJ cruelly announced that she had died, saying on Telegram that they had been “willing” to free her for humanitarian reasons but “the enemy’s procrastination led to the loss of her life.”

A month after she was abducted along with 250 others, PIJ released a propaganda video of Katzir and 12-year-old Yagil Yaakov, another Nir Oz resident, who was released in a subsequent exchange.

They appeared to read from prepared scripts, criticizing the Israeli government’s military operations in Gaza and praising the treatment they were receiving.

“I am in a place that is not mine. I miss home, my children, my husband, Rami, and my whole dear, beloved family,” Katzir also said in the clip, not knowing until she came back that Rami was dead and Elad was kidnapped.

Katzir went public after her release, sharing how she was thrown onto a motorcycle and fell off during her abduction, how the terrorists threw stones at her, and how she spent the first several days of captivity alone until joining other hostages in subhuman conditions with little to eat.

Her daughter, Carmit, said a few days after her mother’s arrival that she was “not in a good physical state because she didn’t receive the medication she needed. She lost 20 kilos and obviously overcame a major trauma.”

Within two weeks, she was hospitalized in critical condition. Carmit subsequently wrote that her mother had come back from Gaza “both heartbroken and with serious cardiological issues, including broken heart syndrome.”

Described by family and friends as a woman with “a big heart,” who worked for many years as a devoted caretaker in the kibbutz, her heart finally gave out, Carmit said upon her mother’s death.

“Mom was a devoted wife, a loving mother, and a woman who embodied pure love. Her heart couldn’t withstand the unbearable pain since October 7,” she said.

Katzir leaves behind two living children and six grandchildren.