IDF: Gaza strikes kill 7 terrorists, including Hamas commander who held hostage

Gaza City strike on Sunday kills Jamal Abu Saeed, operations chief in terror group's intelligence arm, who military says held Omer Shem Tov in captivity

By Emanuel Fabian
  • Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
 Today, 8:02 am
Palestinian Civil Defense crews attempt to extinguish a burning car struck by an Israeli military strike in Gaza City November 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Yousef Al Zanoun)

Seven Palestinian terror operatives, including a top Hamas commander who held an Israeli hostage, were killed in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip earlier this week, the military and Shin Bet security agency announced on Wednesday.

One strike on Sunday in Gaza City killed Jamal Abu Saeed, who the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet said served as chief of operations in Hamas’s military intelligence arm.

“During the war, Abu Saeed held Omer Shem Tov captive on behalf of Hamas,” the joint statement said.

Shem Tov was abducted by Hamas terrorists from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, and was returned to Israel as part of a ceasefire-hostage release deal on February 22, 2025.

Abu Saeed held other senior roles in Hamas over the years, including overseeing the training of Hamas operatives outside the Gaza Strip, serving as an anti-tank battalion commander, and being “responsible for military specialization in Hamas’s Central Brigade,” the military said.

Abu Saeed was also “responsible for Hamas’s relations with various countries” and he “served as a significant source of knowledge for the terror organization,” the IDF said.

In another strike on Sunday in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, four members of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group were killed.

They were identified by the IDF and Shin Bet as Mohammad Zakaria Al-Jamal, a Hamas cell commander; Mohammad Amin Al-Namas, a Hamas operative; Shaher Mohammad Zaarab, commander of a company in Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force; and Mohammad Ali Abu Shaar, an Islamic Jihad sniper operative.

Additionally, separate strikes on Monday in Khan Younis killed Mahmoud Jihad Mohammad Qafa, a commander of a Hamas sniper cell, and Asaad Suleiman Salman Qashta, a member of the Army of Islam faction who “facilitated smuggling into the Gaza Strip,” according to the military.

The IDF said all of the operatives had recently been advancing attacks on troops and Israeli civilians and acted to restore the capabilities of the terror groups, “in systematic violation of the ceasefire.”

Israel in recent months has increasingly targeted operatives in Gaza, including numerous terrorists who took part in the Hamas-led October 7 invasion and massacre, saying they posed a threat to Israeli forces.

According to the military, many of the recent strikes have focused on Hamas operatives involved in building up the terror group’s force and civil control mechanisms in the Strip.

Implementation of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza has stalled, with Hamas refusing to disarm and Israel refusing to withdraw from any part of Gaza until that condition is met.

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