IDF says it killed Hamas terrorist who abducted tank officer Daniel Perez, held hostages

The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet announced Friday that a Hamas terrorist who abducted IDF officer Cpt. Daniel Perez during the October 7, 2023, onslaught and later held Yotam Haim, Samar Talalka and Alon Shamriz in captivity, was killed in a strike in the northern Gaza Strip this week.

The strike on Wednesday killed Muhammad Na’im Jandiya, identified by the IDF as the chief of security in Hamas’s Shejaiya Battalion.

The military said that on October 7, Jandiya was the commander of a Nukhba Force cell that raided Nahal Oz and took part in abducting the body of Perez, a tank commander.

Additionally, he was among the “prominent masked operatives” who led the Hamas hostage handover ceremonies last year, according to the military.

Recently, as part of his senior role in the Shejaiya Battalion, Jandiya worked to advance attacks against troops stationed in the Strip, the IDF said.

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Perez’s father, Rabbi Doron Perez, said in a statement on behalf of the family that “the privilege to live in an independent Jewish state, that is able to protect its citizens, and to hunt those who harm them and to fight for justice, is a privilege of deep significance.”

Perez was stationed near the Gaza border, and he and his tank crew fought for hours against the Hamas invasion of the Nahal Oz IDF outpost until Perez was killed alongside Sgt. Tomer Leibovitz and Staff Sgt. Itay Chen.

The bodies of Perez and Chen were taken captive to Gaza, while their comrade Matan Angrest was captured alive and taken to the Strip and freed on October 13, 2025.

Shamriz’s brothers, in response to the IDF announcement, said “the world is a slightly better place” without Jandiya.

“No act will bring back our hero Alon to us, and no elimination can erase the pain and the void that has opened up in our lives,” Yonatan and Ido Shamriz said in a joint statement.

“At the same time, without this despicable terrorist, the world is a slightly better place. We hope that every terrorist will find their death as quickly as possible. We choose to continue to commemorate Alon’s life, the person he was, and to hold on to the values he left us,” the statement read.

Haim and Shamriz were both abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Talaka was abducted from Nir Am, another community near the Gaza border. The three managed to escape their Hamas captors in December 2023 but were shot dead by IDF troops as they approached them, hoping to make it to safety.

????ELIMINATED: Muhammad Na’im Jandiya, the Head of Military Security in Hamas’ Shuja'iyya Battalion.

During the October 7 Massacre, Jandiya served as the commander of a Nukhba terrorist cell that infiltrated Kibbutz Nahal Oz and took part in the abduction of the late Captain… pic.twitter.com/uf2EW8R1l4

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) July 3, 2026

The IDF has for more than two and a half years sought out and targeted terrorists involved in the October 7 attack, which killed 1,200 people, saw 251 people taken hostage and launched the Gaza war.

In recent months, the military has been ramping up strikes on terror operatives in Gaza, saying they posed a threat to Israeli forces.

Earlier this week, the IDF said it had killed three senior terror operatives in Gaza, including figures closely involved in the October 7 attack, one of whom subsequently held Israeli captives whom terrorists kidnapped during the rampage.

The IDF has continued to operate in areas of Gaza it controls and carry out strikes amid sporadic exchanges of fire.

Alongside the strikes across Gaza, the IDF has slowly been pushing out the boundaries of the area inside the enclave still under its control, saying it now controls at least 60 percent of the Strip, rather than the roughly 53% following its pullback on the first day of the truce. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month he had ordered the military to retake additional territory, amounting to 70% of the enclave.

On Thursday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said he was updated on an assessment that the military has demolished 83% of the Hamas tunnels in the IDF-held portion of the Gaza Strip.

The assessment with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other top officers was held to mark 1,000 days since the October 7 onslaught.

In the areas not controlled by Israel, Hamas remains in place as the enclave’s de facto government, as power will only be handed over to a transitional authority once the terror group agrees to give up its weapons.

Although battered by war, the terror group is reported to be maintaining its control over the Strip by executing its opponents and those it views as posing a threat to its rule.

On Thursday, Hamas said it executed a Gaza resident accused of collaborating with Israel. The man is identified only by the initials M.M.

According to the statement, the man collaborated with Israel and assisted in the killing of several senior Hamas figures, including the head of Hamas’s military wing, Izz al-Din Haddad, who was killed last May.