IDF reveals it killed Hamas terrorist seen dragging Naama Levy to captivity on Oct. 7

Another terrorist who participated in attack on Nahal Oz post killed last month; developments kept secret until last of seven female soldier hostages returned to Israel

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Screen capture from video of Hamas terrorist Muhammad Abu Aseed celebrates as he abducts IDF soldier Naama Levy on October 7, 2023. (Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Screen capture from video of Hamas terrorist Muhammad Abu Aseed celebrates as he abducts IDF soldier Naama Levy on October 7, 2023. (Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

Hamas terrorist Muhammad Abu Aseed, who was filmed kidnapping Israeli surveillance soldier Naama Levy on October 7, 2023, was eliminated in a drone strike some four months ago, the Israel Defense Forces said Thursday.

The IDF said another Hamas terrorist who participated in the killing and abduction of female surveillance soldiers at the Nahal Oz post on October 7 was killed in a separate strike a month ago, shortly before the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took effect.

Abu Aseed, a member of Hamas’s Shati Battalion, was involved in the attack on the Nahal Oz post and was seen abducting Levy who was released last week. The IDF said he was killed in a September strike.

Video footage of the abduction showed Aseed dragging a bound and bleeding Levy by her hair from the back of a jeep in Gaza minutes after she was taken from Israel, waving a gun as he howled in celebration before pulling her back into the vehicle.

The image of Levy being pushed into a jeep was one of the most horrific images from October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group Hamas led thousands of terrorists to invade Israel, killing some 1,200 people and abducting 251 to Gaza.

In December 2023, her mother published a heartfelt plea for her daughter’s release, referencing the infamous video.

“You have seen the video of my daughter Naama Levy,” Ayelet Levy Shachar wrote on the Free Press website. “Everyone has. You have seen her dragged by her long brown hair from the back of a Jeep at gunpoint, somewhere in Gaza, her gray sweatpants covered in blood.

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“You may have perhaps noticed that her ankles are cut, that she’s barefoot and limping. She is seriously injured. She is frightened. And I, her mother, am helpless in these moments of horror.”

Separately, the IDF said Thursday that an airstrike last month killed Haytham Hazem Hijazi Rajab, a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba force in the terror group’s Shejaiya Battalion.

Rajab had participated in the attack on the Nahal Oz post, and was involved in numerous more attacks on troops in Gaza amid the war, the army said.

A man identified by the IDF as Haytham Hazem Hijazi Rajab seen during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, at the Nahal Oz post. (Israel Defense Forces)

News of the targeting of the two operatives was not permitted for publication until the return of all seven surveillance soldiers kidnapped by the terror group during the October 7 onslaught.

Levy was released by Hamas last week, along with Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, and Liri Albag. Agam Berger was released Thursday morning as well, as part of a complex, three-phase ceasefire deal that halted 15 months of fighting as Israel responded to the Hamas attack.

Levy, Albag, Ariev, and Gilboa, gathered to watch a live video of Berger being set free.

Freed hostages (L-R) Liri Albag, Naama Levy, Daniella Gilboa and Karina Ariev watch at the Rabin Medical Center as their IDF surveillance soldier colleague Agam Berger is released from Hamas captivity in Gaza on January 30, 2025 (Israel Defense Forces)

Berger was slated to be brought to the same hospital where they are being treated, to be reunited after they were separated a week ago.

One of the abducted surveillance soldiers, Ori Megidish, was rescued alive in October 2023, and the body of a second one, Noa Marciano, was recovered after she was murdered in captivity in November 2023.

In her first message to the public since her release, Levy said Wednesday “After 477 days, I’m at home at last.”

“I am safe and protected, surrounded by family and friends, and feeling better by the day,” she wrote on Instagram.

Naama Levy is seen with her mother after being freed from Hamas captivity on January 25, 2025 (Israel Defense Forces)

Speaking about her time in captivity, Levy said that for the first 50 days after being kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists on October 7, 2023, she was mostly kept alone.

“After that, I stayed with my friends” — four fellow IDF lookout soldiers abducted with her, three of whom were released with her, as well as other female hostages — “who gave me strength and hope,” she added. “We gave strength to each other until the release day and also after it.”

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