IDF says Hamas terrorist who abducted Mia Schem on Oct. 7 was killed in recent strike

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

Former hostage Mia Schem attends a press conference ahead of a concert in memory of the victims murdered at the Nova festival by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, in Tel Aviv, March 11, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Former hostage Mia Schem attends a press conference ahead of a concert in memory of the victims murdered at the Nova festival by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, in Tel Aviv, March 11, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Following a review of intelligence, the IDF says it can confirm that a Hamas terrorist whom it killed in the Gaza Strip last week had abducted former hostage Mia Schem during the October 7, 2023, onslaught.

On April 29, the IDF struck and killed Ibrahim Abu Sakkar, a Hamas operative and a paramedic in the terror group’s Military Medical Services, who the military said had planned an attack on troops “in the immediate timeframe” and during the war led numerous attacks on soldiers and Israel.

“Following intelligence analysis, it can be confirmed that the terrorist Abu Sakkar infiltrated Israeli territory during the brutal October 7 massacre and participated in the abduction of Mia Schem from the Mefalsim area,” the military says.

Schem, a partygoer at the Nova music festival, was returned to Israel in a hostage deal with Hamas in November 2023.

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