IDF Says Last Hamas Member Involved In Abducting Shani Louk’s Body On October 7, Killed In Strike

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that an Israeli strike in northern Gaza killed the last remaining member of a Hamas cell involved in abducting the body of Israeli hostage Shani Louk during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

The Israeli military said Tamer Muhammad Ibrahim al-Sabbagh was killed in Jabalia on Monday. According to a joint statement issued by the IDF and Israel’s Shin Bet security agency on Tuesday, al-Sabbagh was among the Hamas operatives who entered Israeli territory during the October 7 assault and participated in the abduction of Louk, 22, who was attending the Supernova music festival.

Suspect Identified In October 7 Photographs

Al-Sabbagh was identified as one of the armed men seen in widely circulated photographs taken by Associated Press freelance photographer Ali Mahmud, reported The Times of Israel. The images showed Louk’s body, partially unclothed, lying face-down in the back of a pickup truck surrounded by armed men in Gaza.

The IDF said the other members of the cell had already been dealt with during the war. Three were killed earlier, while another was captured by Israeli forces, leaving al-Sabbagh as the last member of the group, according to the military.

The Israeli security agencies also alleged that al-Sabbagh had carried out attacks against Israeli troops and civilians during the war and had been involved in efforts to rebuild Hamas’s operational capabilities. The agencies described these activities as systematic violations of the ceasefire and said he was targeted to eliminate the threat he allegedly posed.

Israeli Strike Kills Hamas Security Officer

In a separate operation on Tuesday, an Israeli strike killed Akram Bassam Shaaban Yassin, whom the IDF and Shin Bet identified as a senior officer in Hamas’s general security apparatus.

According to the Israeli military, the clandestine unit is responsible for protecting senior Hamas officials, facilitating communications and meetings between them, and moving them between emergency locations. It also prepares intelligence assessments to support the group’s leadership in decision-making and planning attacks, the IDF alleged.

The military said the operation was part of its continuing campaign to target senior personnel in the apparatus and weaken its capabilities in Gaza. Israeli forces had also struck and killed several senior figures in the unit in June.

Palestinian Authorities Report 7 Deaths

Meanwhile, Hamas-run civil defence authorities and hospitals in Gaza reported that seven Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes across the enclave on Tuesday. Shifa Hospital said Yassin’s wife was also killed in the strike on a residential building in Gaza City’s Rimal neighbourhood, while several people were injured.

Other reported fatalities included two men in strikes in Al-Zawaida and the Wadi Gaza area in central Gaza, according to civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Bassal and Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital.

One person was reportedly killed in Jabalia al-Balad in northern Gaza, while Shifa Hospital received another victim from a strike in the Zeitoun neighbourhood southeast of Gaza City. Nasser Hospital also reported receiving the body of a teenager allegedly killed by Israeli gunfire south of Khan Younis. The IDF said it was verifying the other reports.

The strikes come amid continued Israeli operations against Hamas members whom the military accuses of participating in the October 7 attacks or rebuilding the group’s military and administrative capabilities in Gaza.