The Israel Defense Forces this week killed a commander from the Kataeb al-Mujahideen terrorist group in the southern Gaza Strip who took part in the abduction of Israeli hostages Noa Argamani and Avinatan Or during the Hamas-led invasion of the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023, the military said on Friday.
Terrorist Ahmed Hussein Mohammed Kafina, in charge of the central Gaza area for the group, also directed the abduction of Sudthisak Rinthalak, a 43-year-old Thai farm worker who was murdered in Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7 and whose body was taken into Gaza, the IDF said.
During the war and in recent months, Kafina advanced terrorist attacks against Israeli troops and civilians, the IDF continued.
He was eliminated on Tuesday in a precise aerial strike after posing an immediate threat to nearby troops, the army said.
Kataeb al-Mujahideen (“the Mujahideen Brigades”) collaborates closely with terrorists from Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, Saraya al-Quds (“the Al-Quds Brigades”).
Argamani and Or, who were a couple at the time, were kidnapped from the Supernova music festival into Gaza. Argamani was released along with three other hostages in a military rescue mission after 245 days in captivity, on June 8, 2024. Or was redeemed after 738 days in Hamas captivity, on Oct. 13, 2025, as part of an agreement involving the release of Palestinian security prisoners.
In a separate strike on Thursday, the IDF and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) killed a Hamas commander who operated simultaneously as a doctor in Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, and held Israeli civilian Romi Gonen in captivity, as well as the body of Cpl. Noa Marciano following her murder.
Named Abd al-Rahim Abd al-Hay Youssef Kardi, a Hamas deputy cell commander, the IDF said that he infiltrated Israeli territory during the Oct. 7 massacre and was involved during the first stages of the war in holding Gonen captive in the area of Gaza City and in Shifa Hospital, the main medical center in the Strip.
“Throughout the war and in recent months, Kardi continued to advance terror attacks targeting IDF troops and Israeli civilians. The terrorist posed a threat to the troops and was eliminated in an aerial strike,” the military said.
On Wednesday, the IDF killed Muhammad Al-Abed, a supply officer in the Hamas terrorist organization, and terrorist Ahmad Ma’in Muhammad Anqar, a commander in Hamas, the army said in a separate statement.
The IDF did not specify where in Gaza they were struck, but said they were killed during several strikes carried out across the Strip after posing a threat to Israeli soldiers.
