(NewsNation) — Judih Weinstein and her husband, Gad Haggai, were on their morning walk Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel. Their daughter, Iris Haggai, hasn’t heard from her parents since and is relentlessly searching for answers.
Iris believes her parents were kidnapped by Hamas. As she faces uncertainty, she’s looking for any proof her parents may still be alive.
“There is no proof of life. We don’t even know who’s really kidnapped and who’s not,” Iris said during a Friday interview on “On Balance with Leland Vittert.” “We are from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where there are 80 kidnapped and, you know, out of 400, only 160 survived. My head is just all over the place.”
While there are many unknowns, Iris said she does know that her parents were on their morning walk Oct. 7. They took cover in a field after gunfire erupted, missiles streaked across the sky and a recorded voice from an alert system said, “Red Alert.” Weinstein captured the scene on video and sent the clip in a group chat. That was their last contact with family.
Iris said she also knows her mother called a paramedic in the kibbutz.
“I know for a fact that my mom called the kibbutz paramedic who I grew up with. I’ve known him my whole life. She told him that they were both shot at by terrorists on a motorcycle and that my dad is wounded really bad. She used the words she thinks he’s dead,” Iris said. “He couldn’t get it (medical help) because the terrorists were already in the kibbutz and they shot the tires of the ambulance. So he couldn’t get any type of medical help to them and they lost contact.”
Days later, Iris said the Israeli Army told her that her parents’ phones were found in Gaza.
“So, it leads them to believe that they are kidnapped. But, you know, it doesn’t give me anything because thankfully, some of my friends survived and their phones were stolen and located in Gaza,” Iris said. “So, that’s what I’m looking for — proof of life, basically.”
According to Iris, officials consider her parents kidnapped instead of missing. But she’s not so sure.
“In my mind, I just don’t know anything. I’m going to approach the scenario if they are kidnapped and plea (with) Hamas, plea (with) the U.S. government, the Israeli government, everybody, to bring them home. That’s all I can do,” Iris said.
Gad Haggai is a retired chef and jazz musician. Judih Weinstein is a native of New York and a retired teacher. Iris shared their story with NewsNation as Hamas released hostages Friday for the first time.
A Hamas spokesperson said it released an American mother and her teenage daughter due to “humanitarian reasons” in an agreement with the Qatari government. NewsNation local affiliate WGN reports the two released were Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie Raanan of Evanston, Illinois.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there are still at least 10 Americans who remain unaccounted for in the war. The Israeli military said more than 200 people were believed to be captured by Hamas after its attack.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
