Last know Canadian held hostage by Hamas confirmed dead

The last known Canadian believed to be held hostage by Hamas has been confirmed dead by her family.

A relative says 70-year old Judih Weinstein Haggai did not survive following the Oct. 7 attack in their community.

This comes just days after her husband, Gadi Haggai, was also declared dead.

The family says the two were taking an early morning walk on Oct. 7 when Hamas crossed the border into Israel, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping 240 others.

Earlier this month – relatives say through a text message — Weinstein Haggai told others in her community that her husband was shot and killed by a Hamas militant on a motorcycle, and she was also wounded.

The community tried to dispatch an ambulance but couldn’t do so because of Hamas’s presence. Her family adds Israeli forces detected her cellphone in Gaza at a later date.

READ MORE: Israeli forces expand to central part of Gaza territory

The English teacher was born in New York state but moved to Toronto at the age of three, then moved to Israel 20 years later to live with her husband.

Weinstein Haggai was also known to help Palestinians in Gaza, a territory under a humanitarian crisis and with a death toll since the start of the war of more than 20,000 people.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces have been reportedly detaining many in Gaza, as a video circulating online shows Palestinian men and children stripped and detained by soldiers.

Former Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon said they have no intention of arresting innocent children, but sometimes Hamas will use those children to transfer explosives to target the IDF troops in Gaza, so they have no choice but to detain them.

Israeli forces are now urging Gazans who have fled from the north to the central part of the region to evacuate their shelters there, after at least 50 people were reportedly killed from airstrikes this week.

Also, the U.S. Secretary of State is expected to be in Israel next week to discuss the further war strategy.