The Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security agency revealed on Friday that they successfully targeted and killed Mohammed Hassan Mohammed Awad earlier in the day. Awad was a top figure within the Military Intelligence structure in Gaza and maintained close ties with senior leaders of the Palestinian Mujahideen terror group.
According to the statement, Awad played a leading role in the October 7 attacks, infiltrating Nir Oz multiple times during the massacre. He is believed to have had direct involvement in the kidnapping and brutal murder of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas. He was also implicated in the abduction and burial of Gad and Judi Lynn Weinstein, as well as the capture of several Thai nationals.
“As part of his role in the terrorist organization, Mohammad Awad was actively involved until his death in recruiting terror operatives in Judea and Samaria and within Israel, through whom he used to plan and carry out attacks against Israelis,” the statement said.
“During the war, the Palestinian Mujahideen terrorist organization and Mohammed Awad in particular were involved in the execution of terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip,” it continued.
“The IDF and ISA will continue to operate to locate and eliminate all of the terrorists from different terrorist organizations who took part in the murderous October 7th massacre,” the joint statement concluded.
The Bibas family—Yarden Bibas, his wife Shiri, and their young sons Ariel, 4, and Kfir, just 9 months old—were abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on the morning of October 7, 2023.
Yarden was separated from his family after he reportedly left the safe room in a desperate effort to defend them. Videos shared online showed him, visibly wounded and bleeding, being taken away on a motorcycle. Other footage captured a terrified Shiri holding her two redheaded sons close as they were surrounded by armed militants.
After spending 484 days in captivity, Yarden was released on February 1 as part of a truce and hostage exchange with Hamas. Later that same month, the remains of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir were returned to Israel. Following forensic analysis, Israeli authorities confirmed that the three had been murdered by their captors, contradicting Hamas’s claim that they died during an Israeli airstrike.
{Matzav.com}