'I can't believe this is reality': Woman from Toronto shot near Gaza border in Israel missing
A woman from Toronto and her husband who were both shot near the Gaza border as Hamas militants invaded Israel last Saturday have been missing for over a week, according to their daughter.
“We have no idea if they were kidnapped to Gaza. We don't know,” Iris Haggai Liniado said.
Her parents, Judih Weinstein, 70, and Gad Haggai, 72, were on an early morning walk near Kibbutz Nir Oz, their home of nearly 30-years in southern Israel, on Oct. 7.
Just before dawn, Hamas – designated a terrorist organization by the Canadian government – fired rockets into Israel.
In a family WhatsApp group chat shortly after, Weinstein wrote to her kids, “We’re laying facedown in the fields. Rockets are overhead. We see hundreds of them.”
She sent a video of rockets, reviewed by CTV News, heard raging in the sky above the field to another group chat with fellow English teachers near 7 a.m.
“You could hear the gunshots in the distance and the incoming rocket alerts and this is apparently the last recording of their voices their children have of them,” Adele Reamer, a neighbour and member in the group chat, said.
Then, silence.
Haggai Liniado, who lives in Singapore with her husband and three children, began to panic, calling anyone she could contact.
The only inch of information she got about her parents was from the kibbutz paramedics. They said her mother called for help, saying she’d been shot and her husband was badly wounded.
That was the last communication from her mother.
Judih Weinstein and her husband Gad Haggai in a photo at Bayview Village Park in Toronto (Supplied). “When I tell you this, it’s hard for me to even grasp that this is real. I feel like I am talking and it's a script in a movie,” Haggai Liniado said.
Since then, she has spoken to every authority in Israel, Canada and the United States, where her mother was born. Haggai Liniado said she has exhausted her search.
“I’m trying not to cry. I can’t believe this is reality,” she said.
Speaking in Jordan on Saturday, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly confirmed four Canadians have been killed and three are still missing as the war between Israel and Hamas continues. The four Canadians were all killed following Hamas' attacks on Israel.
Canadian Judih Weinstein Haggai, a retired English teacher, was on a dawn walk with her Israeli husband Gad last Saturday when the couple received a red alert on their phones. The red alert came from the Israeli government warning residents to barricade themselves in their safe rooms. Her kibbutz confirmed Thursday that she and her husband did not survive. (SUBMITTED)Joly said she would not disclose missing Canadians’ names. “Families have themselves identified (loved ones),” Joly said.
President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York Robert R. Kovach confirmed Weinstein and her husband have been missing since the attack. “We are heartbroken. We pray for their safety,” he said.
'KINDEST PEOPLE'
Weinstein and Haggai have lived on Kibbutz Nir Oz in the southern Israel desert since 1995, both heavily into mindfulness, plant-based diets and daily morning walks.
Weinstein was born in the United States and her family moved to Toronto when she was three years old. When Weinstein was around 20 years old, she travelled to Greece and landed in Haggai’s kibbutz in Israel.
Since teaching together in the early 1980s, Raemer said she has been friends with Weinstein, who heavily believes in the value of mindfulness in the classroom, especially for kids living in areas of Israel who face trauma and violence.
On Weinstein’s personal website, which describes her as a meditator for over 40 years, working in education and therapy, she writes, “Together reinforcing the idea that we can disengage from all past concerns, detach from future worries and simply allow ourselves to rest in the present moment.”
“Judih is one of the funniest people, the kindest people,” Raemer said. “That smile that you see on her face, that just says it all.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Scottie Scheffler isn't the first pro golfer to be arrested during a tournament
Scottie Scheffler's arrest hours before his second-round tee time at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, will go down as one of the most shocking in professional golf history. It certainly wasn't the first, though.
NEW What a wildfire survivor says she regrets not grabbing before leaving home
Carol Christian had 15 minutes to evacuate her home during the Fort McMurray wildfires in 2016. She ended up losing the house and everything inside. Now, she wants to share the lessons she learned.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta border: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Canadian convicted of attacking Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer sentenced to 30 years
The man convicted of attempting to kidnap then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband with a hammer was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison.
World No. 1 golfer charged with police officer assault before PGA Championship second round
World number one golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested and charged with the assault of a police officer in what he called a 'chaotic situation' before being released in time to start his second round at the PGA Championship on Friday.
Australia's richest woman seeks removal of her portrait from exhibition
Art is subjective. And while many artists long to share their work with the world, there's no guarantee that the audience will understand it, or even like it.
B.C. optometrist warns against trending eye colour change procedure
A medical procedure that can permanently change a person's eye colour may be trending on social media, but a B.C. optometrist is warning about the significant risks associated.