Terrorist from abduction of Noa Argamani, Avinatan Or on Oct. 7 killed in strike – IDF
Saher Nidal Saqr seen in video riding motorcycle that carried Argamani into captivity; separate strike last week revealed to have killed Hamas commander who held 9 other hostages
A Palestinian terrorist who took part in abducting Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or during the October 7, 2023, onslaught was killed in an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip, the military and Shin Bet announced Sunday.
A strike the day before in central Gaza’s Nuseirat targeted Saher Nidal Saqr, who the IDF said was affiliated with “global jihadist organizations” and invaded Israel on October 7, 2023.
Video of the abduction from the Nova music festival of Argamani and Or, who were a couple, became one of the most widely circulated pieces of footage from the massacre. Footage showed Saqr taking Argamani on a motorcycle to the Strip, as she desperately reached out to Or, who was being marched into captivity.
Argamani was rescued by the IDF in 2024 and Or was released from Gaza last year.
Saturday’s strike was carried out by the Israel Police’s elite Gideonim Unit 33, according to the statement.
Police later published footage of the strike.
A police video shows a strike on Saher Nidal Saqr in the central Gaza Strip on September 26, 2026. (Israel Police)
Saqr was involved in supplying weapons to Hamas during the war, and recently, he was advancing attacks on troops and Israeli civilians, “in cooperation with terrorist operatives from the military wings of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations, in systematic violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the military said.
The IDF Eliminates Saher Saqr, Hamas Terroridt Who Abducted Noa Argamani
Argamani was abducted from the Nova festival on October 7 and later rescued alive from Gaza.
Saqr also participated in holding other Israeli hostages in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/7oXlzp8bWk
— ME24 – Middle East 24 (@MiddleEast_24) September 27, 2026
The IDF said he was killed to “remove a threat.”
In addition, the IDF and Shin Bet said Sunday that a Hamas commander who held nine other Israeli hostages in captivity was killed in a strike in the Gaza Strip last week.
The Tuesday strike in northern Gaza killed Muhammad Hamad Muhammad Ghabain, whom the IDF said participated in holding hostages Ziv Berman, Gali Berman, Eitan Mor, Liri Albag, Agam Berger, Matan Angrest, Omri Miran, Keith Siegel and Alon Ohel in captivity.
Recently, Ghabain was involved in advancing attacks against Israeli troops and civilians, restoring Hamas capabilities, “in systematic violation of the ceasefire,” the IDF said, adding that he was killed to “remove the threat he posed.”
Earlier this year, the IDF said it killed Ahmed Hussein Mohammed Kafina, a top Hamas commander who was also involved in abducting Argamani and Or.
In other developments, the IDF published drone footage showing a Palestinian child transporting a weapon in the central Gaza Strip.
The IDF said troops had spotted a terror operative “using a child to transport weapons into a civilian home.”
“The terrorist exploited the child and used him as a human shield to transport weapons so that the IDF would not attack and thwart their transfer,” the military claimed.
The IDF did not say when the video was taken.
The IDF has repeatedly accused Hamas of using the civilian population in Gaza as a shield during the war, which began on October 7, 2023, with the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel. The attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, including 360 at the Nova music festival.
Last month, the IDF and Shin Bet acknowledged that a special operation has been established with a dedicated unit to hunt down and kill every single Palestinian terrorist involved in the October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre.