The IDF announced Thursday it killed two terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacre. The senior operative, Muhammad Jamal Mahmoud Abu al-Sha’ar, a cell chief in Hamas’s military wing, was killed Tuesday in Gaza City. According to the IDF, Abu al-Sha’ar was among the terrorists who raided Kibbutz Be’eri and participated in kidnapping Sharon Hertzman-Avigdori and her daughter Noam, Adi Shoham and her two children Naveh and Yahel, and Shoshan Haran. All six family members were held captive for 50 days and released together in the second phase of the hostage deal in November 2023.
3+Nearly three years after the massacre, the IDF announced that one of the terrorists who participated in kidnapping six women and children from Be’eri has been eliminated. On Tuesday, the Air Force struck Muhammad Jamal Mahmoud Abu al-Sha’ar in Gaza City, whom the IDF defines as a cell commander in Hamas’s military wing.
According to the military’s statement, Abu al-Sha’ar didn’t stop with his October 7 activities. Recently he continued advancing terror operations against IDF forces and Israeli civilians, systematically violating the ceasefire. Because of the threat attributed to him, he was struck from the air. That same day the IDF carried out another elimination, this time in Jabaliya. The strike killed Mus’ab Abd al-Jalil Sakeb Balbisi, whom the military defined as a commander in the military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
3+Balbisi was also among the terrorists who raided Israeli territory in the October 7 massacre. Balbisi too, according to the military’s statement, recently continued advancing terror operations against IDF forces and Israeli civilians. The IDF noted that both terrorists were eliminated from the air to remove the threat they posed. Before the strikes were carried out, according to the IDF, steps were taken to minimize the possibility of harming civilians, including use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.
On October 7, 2023, three generations of the Haran family were staying at the family home in Be’eri. Adi Shoham had come to Be’eri with her husband Tal and their children Naveh, then eight, and Yahel, then three. Sharon Avigdori and her daughter Noam, who had come from Hod HaSharon for a family visit, were also staying in the kibbutz. During the attack, the family members hid in the safe room. From testimonies published since, the terrorists set the house on fire and forced the family members outside. Shoshan Haran later recounted that when she was taken out of the safe room, she saw the terrorists controlling the kibbutz grounds.
3+Abu al-Sha’ar, who according to the IDF participated in the Be’eri raid, took part in kidnapping six family members: Shoshan Haran, her daughter Adi Shoham, her grandchildren Naveh and Yahel, Sharon Hertzman-Avigdori and her daughter Noam. Tal Shoham, Adi’s husband and father of Naveh and Yahel, was also kidnapped in that incident. The price the family paid that morning was even heavier. Avshalom Haran, Shoshan’s husband, was murdered in the attack. Shoshan’s sister, Lilach Kipnis, and her husband Avitar Kipnis were also murdered.
3+The six family members were held in Gaza for 50 days. On November 25, 2023, they were released together in the second phase of the hostage deal: Shoshan Haran, then 67, Adi Shoham, 38, eight-year-old Naveh, three-year-old Yahel, Sharon Avigdori, 52, and 12-year-old Noam. Tal Shoham remained in captivity at that time. Upon their return to Israel, the six reunited with their family members at Sheba Medical Center. Despite the release, the family members emphasized then that as far as they were concerned, the struggle wasn’t over as long as Tal and the other hostages remained in Gaza.