Eight months – more than 250 days – and the international community has watched Hamas hold my parents’ remains hostage while terrorism wins.
This time of year is filled with opportunities to express gratitude and love for parents – with Mother’s Day in May, Father’s Day in June, and the United Nations-proclaimed Global Day of Parents on June 1. These holidays are about acknowledging the hard work and sacrifices parents make for their families, but for me and my three siblings, they are now accompanied by unfathomable tragedy.
My parents – two of the eight Americans held hostage in Gaza – were on their morning walk through the Kibbutz Nir Oz fields on Oct. 7 when hundreds of Hamas terrorists stormed the area and dragged my parents to Gaza.
For over 80 excruciating days, we kept hope that they were among the living hostages. That was until Israeli intelligence and the FBI confirmed my worst fear: The terrorists had brutally murdered my mother, 70-year-old Judy Weinstein, and my father, 72-year-old Gad Haggai. They now hold their bodies captive as bargaining chips and a sick trophy to commemorate the death and destruction they wrought.
US must help free Hamas hostages:For five months, we thought our son was alive. Release Hamas hostages and spare others our pain.
Hamas killed more than a thousand innocent people on Oct. 7 and took hundreds more hostage.
My kibbutz has become a community of refugees
![Judy Weinstein and Gad Haggai enjoy homemade coffee before their morning walk in Kibbutz Nir Oz in an undated photo. Judy Weinstein and Gad Haggai were killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.](https://www.usatoday.com/gcdn/authoring/authoring-images/2024/06/14/USAT/74099549007-image-006.jpg?width=660&height=608&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
Before their attack, my kibbutz was a quiet place full of…