Israel on Saturday confirmed reports that the terrorist who boasted to his parents about murdering 10 Jews during the Hamas-led massacre of Oct. 7, 2023 had been eliminated by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.
Mahmoud Afana was reportedly killed in an airstrike in Deir al-Balah.
“Hi Dad! I’m talking to you from Mefalsim. Open my WhatsApp now and you’ll see all those killed. Look how many I killed with my own hands! Your son killed Jews! It’s inside Mefalsim, Dad!” the terrorist can be heard saying from the kibbutz in southern Israel in a recording the IDF released shortly after the massacre.
On October 7, Mahmoud Afana called his parents to boast that he had murdered ten Jews.
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) September 6, 2025
With his own hands.
Today, he was eliminated by the IDF. pic.twitter.com/WjbrELv1tw
“Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest). May God protect you,” his father responds.
“Dad, I’m talking to you now from a Jewish woman’s phone. I killed her and I killed her husband. I killed 10 with my own hands! Dad, I killed 10! 10! 10 with my own hands!” said Afana.
“Oh, my son, God bless you!” his father replied.
The phone belonged to Liraz Assulin, 38, a Jewish woman from Kiryat Malakhi who was killed while trying to escape the Nova Music Festival.
🚨This is Liraz Assulin, 38, a Jewish woman who was killed while celebrating life at the Nova Music Festival on October 7. She was murdered by Hamas terrorist Mahmoud Afana, who then used her phone to call his parents and boast about the crime.
— Loay Alshareef لؤي الشريف (@lalshareef) September 7, 2025
Say her name.
She will always be… pic.twitter.com/WZGOGCj2sP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday that his elimination sends a “clear message” that Israel will reach all of the Oct. 7 perpetrators.
“We are intensifying the operation on the outskirts of, and inside, Gaza City. We are eliminating Nukhba terrorists who played a significant role in the October 7 massacre, including the accursed terrorist who called his parents and took pride in having personally murdered 10 Israelis,” said Netanyahu.
“Now we called the family and informed it that this terrorist has been eliminated. It is a clear message that we will reach them all. I want to thank, on your behalf as well, the ISA and the IDF for doing this important work.”