The Israel Defense Forces over the weekend killed a Hamas terrorist who infiltrated the Jewish state on Oct. 7, 2023, and held hostages, the military said on Monday.
Sabai Zaher Abd al-Hamid Abu Hasna, a member of Hamas’s Nukhba Force, was slain in an airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip after planting explosive devices and advancing other terrorist attacks targeting Israeli troops throughout the war triggered by the Oct. 7 massacre, according to a statement.
Abu Hasna took part in holding Israeli hostage Shem Tov, who was taken by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7 and spent 505 days in captivity before being released on Feb. 22, 2025, as part of the truce with the Islamist group, the statement noted.
During the release ceremony, Shem Tov was forced by Hamas to kiss Abu Hasna on the forehead, the former captive told the “Inspiration for the Nation” podcast last year.
The IDF said Abu Hasna was killed alongside Ahmed Samir Muhammad Washah, a sniper in Hamas’s “military wing” who also worked as a photojournalist for Qatar’s Al Jazeera network.
In another strike in northern Gaza, the IDF killed three armed Hamas terrorists who were trying to advance attacks against soldiers, it added.
“Prior to the strikes, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance,” the statement noted.
Israeli forces remain deployed in Gaza in accordance with the Oct. 10, 2025, ceasefire deal brokered by the United States and will continue to eliminate immediate threats, it stressed.
The current truce in the Gaza Strip ended the two-year war that began when Hamas, other Palestinian terrorist groups and Gazan “civilians” invaded the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 people, primarily civilians, and taking 251 hostages.
