By The Daily Wire (World News) | Created at 2026-10-07 18:06:06 | Updated at 2026-10-07 21:14:06
8 hours ago
With Israel marking three years since the October 7 massacre, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday that approximately 4,000 of the 6,000 terrorists who invaded Israel during the Hamas-led assault have been killed.
Katz said Israel would continue pursuing the remaining perpetrators, including those who carried out the massacre as well as those who helped plan it.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu and I ordered the IDF to pursue and eliminate them all — from the top brass to the rank and file,” Katz said. “This is the command of the murdered and the fallen, and this is our duty as a people and a state — and we will fulfill it.”
Military Intelligence Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder presented the figures during a cabinet meeting Sunday night, according to The Times of Israel.
Approximately 300 alleged perpetrators have also been captured and are awaiting trial before special military tribunals that have yet to be established, according to the outlet. Thousands of attackers returned to Gaza after the massacre, with approximately 2,400 subsequently killed in fighting or targeted Israeli operations.
Previous assessments by the Israel Defense Forces estimated that approximately 5,600 terrorists invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, with between 1,200 and 1,600 killed inside Israel during the attack. The latest assessment puts the number of terrorists who participated in the assault at approximately 6,000.
A joint IDF-Shin Bet unit known as NILI has helped track down those who participated in the attack. The unit maintains a list of suspected perpetrators and uses evidence gathered during and after the massacre to identify, kill, or capture them.
NILI is a Hebrew acronym meaning “The Eternal One of Israel Doesn’t Lie.” The name was borrowed from a Jewish espionage network that operated during World War I and was chosen to convey that Israel would not forget anyone identified as having taken part in the attack.
Israeli forces have also tracked down people who took advantage of the massacre, even if they were not found to have killed anyone with their own hands.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, Bakr Mujida drove a tractor through the border fence into Israel on October 7. Nearly two years later, Israeli forces located him in Gaza and killed him in an airstrike as he walked along a street. The IDF released a video of the strike.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Israeli security officials said individuals can be targeted after investigators establish at least two pieces of evidence linking them to crimes committed during the October 7 attack.
Israel has killed most senior Hamas commanders involved in planning the assault. Mohammed Deif, Hamas’ longtime military chief and one of the attack’s principal masterminds, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis in July 2024.
Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political chief at the time, was killed in Tehran on July 31, 2024, shortly after attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. An explosion killed Haniyeh and his bodyguard at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-run guesthouse. Katz publicly confirmed in December 2024 that Israel was behind Haniyeh’s assassination.
Sinwar being caught by an Israeli drone shortly before his death. (IDF)
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’ top leader in Gaza and a principal architect of the October 7 attack, was killed by Israeli forces on October 16, 2024, after troops encountered a group of militants in Rafah. A drone donated to the IDF by a group in New Jersey helped locate Sinwar. When the group scattered, he fled into a building alone. A second drone captured his final moments as he sat inside with his head covered and threw what appeared to be a stick at the drone. Israeli troops did not initially know Sinwar was among the militants they had encountered, and his identity was confirmed only after his death.
In May 2026, Israel killed Izz al-Din al-Haddad, one of the last surviving senior members of Hamas’ military leadership who helped plan the October 7 attacks. Haddad had served as Hamas’ military commander in Gaza since 2025.
“The IDF will continue to pursue our enemies, strike them and hold accountable everyone who took part in the October 7th massacre,” Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said after Haddad’s death was confirmed.
Kfar Aza weeks after October 7, 2023. (The Daily Wire)
The October 7 attack killed approximately 1,200 people in Israel, and the attackers abducted 251 others into Gaza. Hamas-led terrorists and other Gazans crossed into Israel after the border was breached, targeting civilians at the Nova music festival and in communities including Kfar Aza, Be’eri and Nir Oz. They also overran military positions and police stations.
The attackers killed entire families and burned homes. Survivors and first responders also reported sexual violence against women and men.
A report submitted to the United Nations by the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel documented testimony from survivors, first responders, and others who encountered evidence of sexual violence at the Nova festival, in residential communities, and at military bases. It also documented allegations of sexual abuse against hostages held in Gaza.
The final 20 living hostages were released on October 13, 2025, after more than two years in captivity. The hostage crisis fully ended in January 2026, when the remains of the final hostage, Israeli police officer Ran Gvili, were recovered and returned to Israel.
