WASHINGTON — A U-S-Israeli woman with dual citizenship was released Wednesday after she was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for more than 50 days. The news of her release was tempered by the discovery that her husband, who was also kidnapped, had been murdered.
Liat Beinin, 49, was kidnapped during the attack on October 7.
Her husband, Aviv Atzili, 49, was also kidnapped and it was on Thursday when Beinin found out Atzili was murdered. Her family lives in Waterford and are active members of Eastern Connecticut's Jewish Community.
Beinin was among the dozens of Israeli and Thai hostages released by Hamas on Wednesday.
"There will be no one left behind," said Israeli Government Spokesperson Eylon Levy.
"She’s crossed the border. I talk with her mother and father and they’re appreciative and things are moving well," said President Biden.
Several other U.S. citizens are still being held captive.
"We continue to get more hostages out and more humanitarian assistance in," said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The executive director of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut, Rachel Levy was happy about Beinin's release but knew it was bad news for her husband.
"It was a huge sigh of relief but also an incredibly bad feeling that Aviv was not okay," said Levy.
Levy said she traveled to Israel at the end of October for a solidarity mission to make sure no one felt alone.
"This is about terrorism winning. That if Hamas wins this war, this shows that terrorists are winning. We would not let that happen on 9/11. As soon as the twin towers were hit, that was the beginning of war," added Levy.
Congressman Joe Courtney said he made sure he did everything possible to keep Beinin and her husband's capture high on the agenda. He issued a statement which stated:
“Today’s news that Liat Beinin’s husband, Aviv Atzili, was killed by Hamas attackers at the Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 is heartbreaking and infuriating. The willful inability of Hamas to account for its despicable assault left Aviv’s family totally in the dark about his whereabouts over the last seven weeks. The relief Liat and her family in Israel and Connecticut experienced upon her release is now buried in grief. As Liat’s father powerfully stated, ‘Revenge, anger – certainly not religious fanaticism—are not parts of a viable agenda to end this nonsense in the Middle East. This can’t go on like this.' "
There is no word yet when Beinin's husband was murdered.
Carmen Chau is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at cchau@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook and X.
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