The Israel Defense Forces on Aug. 10 eliminated Hamas terrorist Jihad Kamal Salem Najjar, who took part in the abduction of Yarden Bibas from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, the military announced on Tuesday.
Bibas was held in captivity for 484 days before being freed on Feb. 1, having lost 33 pounds. His wife, Shiri, and their two sons—Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months—were kidnapped separately. Their captors later murdered Shiri and the children, afterward claiming they had been killed in an Israeli airstrike.
On Feb. 20, Hamas returned the bodies of Kfir, Ariel and, purportedly, Shiri, but the remains turned out to be those of an unidentified woman. Shiri’s body was eventually returned following public pressure.
Meanwhile, on Aug. 13, the IDF killed Muhammad Naif Abu Shamala, a company commander in Hamas’s Nukhba force, the military confirmed on Tuesday.
Shamala infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7 and took part in the attempted assault on the IDF’s Ma’aras Post.
During the war, he was involved in planning and advancing multiple attacks against Israeli troops and the state.
The IDF said on Monday that soldiers over the past 24 hours had struck many rocket launchers in southern Gaza aimed at Israel. In parallel, forces in northern and central Gaza continued to dismantle terrorist infrastructure above and below ground, eliminate terrorists and target additional terror sites in support of ground operations.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday approved plans for the next stage of the war in Gaza presented to him by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and senior IDF leadership, according to Israel’s Channel 12 News.
The campaign, which focuses on Gaza City, has been dubbed “Operation Gideon’s Chariots II,” according to the report.
Zamir announced on Sunday that the military had approved the plans, and said the IDF “will continue striking until Hamas is defeated, with the hostages constantly in our sight.”
