Israeli security forces confirmed Tuesday that they killed Hamas operative Hazem Awni Naeem, the terrorist who held Israeli hostages Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Naama Levy captive during the war.

The IDF and Shin Bet said Naeem was eliminated on August 28 in a joint strike in Gaza City. Officials described him as a senior figure in Hamas’s Gaza City brigade, where he played a leading role in the group’s military intelligence wing and maintained close ties to brigade commander Ezz al-Din Haddad.

Damari, freed in a hostage deal earlier this year, reacted to the announcement in an Instagram post thanking Israel’s security forces who “never rest for a moment on behalf of all of us.” She added her hope that news of the return of the remaining 48 hostages would come “sooner than expected.”

Naeem’s death follows the July killing of another Hamas operative, Mohammed Nasser Ali Qanita, who also held Damari and others captive. Qanita, a member of Hamas’s al-Furqan Battalion, infiltrated Israel on October 7 and imprisoned Damari in his home before being targeted and eliminated in June.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)