A woman from Toronto who has been missing since Hamas' attack on Israel was taken hostage, CTV News has learned.
Iris Haggai told the network on Tuesday that the Israeli government contacted her the day before to inform her that her parents, Judih Weinstein, 70, and Gad Haggai, 72, had been kidnapped by Hamas.
On Oct. 7, the couple was on an early morning walk near Kibbutz Nir Oz, their home of nearly 30 years in southern Israel, when they had to take cover in the fields as Hamas fired rockets.
Haggai told CTV News Toronto last week that the last information about her parents came from paramedics who told her that her mother called for help, saying she'd been shot and her husband was badly wounded. The couple's cell phones were later tracked to Gaza.
Haggai, who lives in Singapore with her husband and three children, now wants the Canadian government to pressure the Israeli government to negotiate.
"At the end of the day, it's Israeli soil… but there is always something that can be done, especially when there are Canadian citizens involved," Haggai said.
Judih, a retired teacher, was born in America before her family moved to Toronto when she was three.
Haggai shared that U.S. President Joe Biden had already called her to say that his government was prioritizing her mother's safety.
According to the Israeli government, nearly 200 people were taken hostage by Hamas, which has been listed by the Canadian government as a terrorist entity since 2002.
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said at least six Canadians were killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, while two citizens remain missing.
- with files from CTV News' Judy Trinh, CTV Toronto's Hannah Alberga and The Canadian Press
