The Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) said on Wednesday that Israeli forces had eliminated a senior Hamas terrorist who held Israeli civilian Omer Shem Tov hostage during the war.
Jamal Abu Saeed, who headed the Operations Department in the Palestinian terror group’s military wing, was eliminated by an airstrike in Gaza City on Sunday, according to the joint statement.
Shem Tov was abducted by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and spent 505 days in captivity before being released as part of a ceasefire agreement.
Abu Saeed had held a series of senior posts in Hamas, including overseeing the training of operatives outside the Gaza Strip and commanding an anti-tank battalion. He was also responsible for “military specialization” in Hamas’s Central Brigade.
The terrorist handled Hamas’s relations with various countries, the statement said.
He advanced attacks targeting Israeli soldiers and civilians throughout the war, “particularly in recent times,” and worked to restore Hamas’s capabilities while “systematically violating the ceasefire,” it added.
Before the strike, measures were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.
Also on Wednesday, the IDF and Shin Bet announced the elimination of six terrorist operatives from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Army of Islam in three airstrikes near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza on Sunday and Monday.
Those killed included Mahmoud Jihad Mohammad Qafa, identified by the military as a Hamas sniper-cell commander; Asaad Suleiman Salman Qashta, accused of facilitating weapons smuggling for the Army of Islam; and Shaher Mohammad Zaarab, described as a commander in Hamas’s Nukhba Force, the unit that led the Oct. 7 massacre.
The IDF said the six had been planning attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians and rebuilding terrorist capabilities in violation of the ceasefire.
The military said on Monday that it had eliminated four Hamas terrorists in a series of strikes in the northern Gaza Strip.
Two strikes on Saturday eliminated Nabil Hamad, a department head in Hamas’s recruitment apparatus, and Mohannad Nader Mahmoud Dahdouh, a sniper commander, the military said.
Two strikes on Oct. 22 eliminated Wael Naif Fahmi Muslim and Arafat Kamal Muhammad Ar’air. Muslim was a Nukhba Force terrorist who infiltrated Israel during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre. Ar’air was a squad commander in Hamas’s rocket array.
The IDF said the four had advanced attacks against troops and civilians and worked to restore Hamas’s capabilities “in systematic violation of the ceasefire.” Precision munitions and aerial surveillance were used to limit harm to noncombatants, it added.
In a separate statement on Monday, the IDF said it killed two Hamas Nukhba terrorists over the weekend, including Muhammad Kamel Masleh Qadih, who participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Qadih, who was responsible for the operational readiness of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force, was killed in the Khan Yunis area, according to the IDF.
The second terrorist, identified as Diaa Abd al-Mohsen Muhammad Abu al-Rous, was killed in the Nuseirat area. The military said both men had been involved in advancing attacks against Israeli troops and civilians and rebuilding Hamas’s capabilities in violation of the ceasefire.
On Sunday, the IDF said it had killed Ihab Jamil Abu Taqiya, a Hamas squad commander who held at least 13 hostages early in the war. He was eliminated in an airstrike in Nuseirat on Thursday. Platoon commander Ibrahim Gihad Muhammad Abu Oshaiba was also killed in the strike.
IDF soldiers remain deployed in the Gaza Strip in accordance with the Oct. 10, 2025, U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal, according to the IDF.
