Hannah Katzir, a 78-year-old Israeli woman freed from Hamas captivity during last year’s brief ceasefire, has died, the Hostages Families Forum announced Tuesday. Her daughter attributed the death to trauma endured since the October 7 attack, stating her mother’s “heart could not withstand the terrible suffering.”
Katzir’s ordeal began when Hamas militants raided her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, killing her husband Rami and kidnapping her son Elad, whose body was recovered by Israeli forces in April after being killed in captivity. She spent 49 days as a hostage before her November 2023 release, after which she was hospitalized with heart issues reportedly caused by “difficult conditions and starvation” during captivity.
She was among 250 hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7 attack that killed approximately 1,200 people. Israel’s subsequent military response in Gaza has resulted in over 45,000 Palestinian deaths, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which notes that more than half the casualties were women and children.
