IDF: Oct. 7 terrorist who held Omer Shem Tov hostage killed in recent Gaza strike

A Hamas terrorist who invaded Israel during the October 7, 2023, onslaught and held hostage Omer Shem Tov in captivity during the war was killed in an Israeli airstrike over the weekend, the IDF announced on Monday.

The military said the strike in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday killed Sabaei Zahir Abd al-Hamid Abu Hasna, a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba Force.

When Shem Tov was released by Hamas, he was seen being directed to kiss Abu Hasna on his head by the terror group’s cameramen, who were filming the carefully staged handover event.

Abu Hasna invaded Israel on October 7, held Shem Tov in captivity, was involved in planting explosive devices during the war, and recently attempted to advance attacks on troops operating in Gaza, the IDF said Monday.

In an interview after his release in February 2025, Shem Tov said he was held in a cell 40 meters (130 feet) underground, where he was often in total darkness. He survived on little more than a biscuit daily, he said — dropping from around 80 kilograms (176 pounds) to 55 kilograms (121 pounds).

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“There were times I thought, I’m blind. I have been starved. I have been spat on. I’ve been cursed. Difficult, difficult times,” Shem Tov said last year.

שימו לב

עומר שם טוב לא העניק נשיקה מרצונו החופשי והאמיתי למחבלים סביבו. שימו לב לסרטון – הצלם של הזרוע הצבאית של חמאס עולה לבמה ומחלק לעומר הוראות. רואים שברגע שעומר מקבל את ההוראה, החיוך יורד לו מן הפנים!

המפלצות מהלכים אימים על חטופינו עד השנייה האחרונה

חמאס מודע לסופו הגמור! pic.twitter.com/VermNVUlT1

— GetLost! (@or8getlost) February 22, 2025

In a separate strike over the weekend, three Hamas gunmen who attempted to advance attacks on troops were killed, the military added.

The IDF in recent months has been ramping up strikes on terror operatives in Gaza, including several October 7 terrorists, claiming they posed a threat to Israeli forces.

Earlier Monday, the IDF said that two Hamas operatives who had been advancing attacks on troops were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza over the weekend.

One strike in northern Gaza on Saturday killed Ahmad Munir Khalil Zaza, chief of engineering in Hamas’s West Jabalia Battalion, according to the military. The IDF said Zaza was involved in manufacturing and distributing weapons to the battalion’s fighters and was responsible for building explosive devices and booby-trapping homes.

“Recently, Zaza attempted to plant explosive devices near the Yellow Line to harm IDF troops operating in the area,” the military said.

In a separate strike in northern Gaza, the commander of Hamas’s sniper array in Gaza City, Hussein Safadi, was killed, the IDF added.

“Safadi was responsible throughout the war for all sniper attacks against IDF troops operating in the Gaza City area,” the military said, adding that recently he “repeatedly violated the ceasefire agreement and attempted to train terrorists and advance additional sniper attacks against IDF troops.”

לאחר שקידמו מתווי טרור: צה"ל חיסל שני מחבלים מארגון הטרור חמאס ברצועת עזה

צה"ל תקף בסוף השבוע בצפון רצועת עזה וחיסל את אחמד מוניר חליל זאזא, אחראי ההנדסה של גדוד מערב ג'באליה במרחב העיר עזה. המחבל פעל לייצור וחלוקת אמצעי לחימה בין הפלוגות ושימש כאחראי על בניית מטענים ובתים… pic.twitter.com/xPLDO9sb7H

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 22, 2026

The IDF and Shin Bet said Sunday that a strike in southern Gaza on Friday had killed Zaki Youssef Mahmoud Abu Mustafa, the elite forces commander of Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Khan Younis Brigade, who the military said helped rebuild PIJ in violation of the Gaza ceasefire.

More than 1,012 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect on October 10 last year, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The IDF has reported five deaths in its ranks during the same period.