Chana Katzir, a’h, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 79, a little over a year after she was released from captivity in Gaza.

She was held by the Islamic Jihad in Gaza and prior to her release, the terror group engaged in psychological terror by claiming that she had died.

Katzir was abducted from her home on Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, and was released along with other women and children in the hostage release deal in November 2023.

She was hospitalized in Israel following her release due to a sharp deterioration in her health during her time in Gaza. At the time, her daughter said: “My mother’s condition is considered serious. There has been a deterioration in her condition due to her time in captivity. She was kidnapped without heart issues, and now she has serious heart issues, due to the harsh conditions and starvation.”

Sadly, upon her return to Israel, Katzir was informed that her husband, Avraham, Katzir, H’yd, was murdered on October 7th. Her son Elad, H’yd, was also abducted on October 7 from his home on Nir Oz and was later murdered in captivity. IDF commandos rescued his body in a dramatic operation in April 2024.

Katzir, a mother of three children and a grandmother of six, worked for years caring for the children of Kibbutz Nir Oz.

“Ima was a loving woman, wife and mother who gave nothing but love,” her daughter Carmit Palty Katzir said.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)