Dec. 24 (UPI) — An Israeli hostage released by Hamas is now the first to die since granted freedom by the terror group after its Oct. 7 attack, her family confirmed Tuesday.
Hanna Katzir, 78, died “after months of struggle and a complex medical condition that she faced after her release from captivity,” Kibbutz Nir Oz announced in a statement.
Her funeral and burial will be in the cemetery of her Kibbutz, Nir Oz, on Tuesday afternoon.
Katzir was born to a family of Holocaust survivors and is survived by three children and six grandchildren.
We mourn the passing of hostage survivor Hanna Katzir
Hanna Katzir was kidnapped from her home in Nir Oz on October 7 and was released after 49 days in captivity. Her husband Rami was murdered in their safe room that same Saturday, and their son Elad was kidnapped alive, killed… pic.twitter.com/RLoe3ZOwQP— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) December 24, 2024
“Mom was a loving woman, wife and mother who gave nothing but love,” her daughter Carmit Palty Katzir wrote in a message via the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “Her heart could not withstand the terrible suffering since October 7.”
Katzir was discharged from hospital only a few weeks ago before moved to a housing complex in Ramat Efal in central Israel with a handful of friends from her Kibbutz, according to reports.
Katzir was taken from her home on Oct. 7, 2023 and held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip for seven weeks only to be released Nov. 24 as part of a temporary cease-fire deal negotiated by Qatar days after it was falsely claimed she was killed during IDF airstrikes.
She was kidnapped by the Islamic Jihad militants while at home in Kibbutz Nir Oz with her husband, Rami, 79, and son, Elad Katzir. The two men were killed and Elad’s body was discovered earlier this year after he was taken hostage as well.
She was hospitalized earlier this year for cardiac issues, her daughter said in a radio interview. It was later reported she retuned home in extremely poor health with a heart condition she didn’t have prior.
“I went to be with her. There wasn’t much I could do to help, but we talked a little,” her daughter stated in a social media post two days ago. “I played music when she didn’t have the strength to talk, made her hot drinks and made sure she was warm and comfortable.”