According to figures released by the Israeli security services over the weekend, more than 2,700 terrorists, who carried out atrocities on October 7, 2023, have been eliminated. Another 300 terrorists are currently in Israeli custody awaiting prosecution for their roles in the attacks.
This disclosure follows Israel’s confirmation that a specialized task force was created to track down the perpetrators of the October 7 attacks. The NILI Unit, comprised of personnel from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Shin Bet security service, is tasked with hunting down the culprits.
“For the first time, the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet have acknowledged that a special operation has been established with a dedicated unit to hunt down and kill every single Palestinian terrorist involved in the October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre,” The Times of Israel reported Sunday.
The news outlet stated that out of estimated “5,000 terrorists who participated in the October 7 attack or helped hold hostages, more than 2,700 have been confirmed by the military to have been killed.”
“Another 300 alleged perpetrators have been captured by Israel and await judgment by special military tribunals, which have yet to be set up,” the Israeli news website added.
Sifting through visual evidence and other sources, the NITI Unit has compiled a “spreadsheet” containing some 5000 names. Describing how the task force tracks down the wanted terrorists, The Israel National News reports:
NILI maintains a target bank containing thousands of names. One soldier described the painstaking daily process inside the unit’s operations room.
“We have an Excel file; we consolidate all the terrorists’ names there, and every day we ‘delete a line,’” [an IDF] soldier said. “I’ve already deleted dozens of lines. I delete a line and immediately think about the next one, even before I process what I feel about it.”
The unit combines multiple intelligence capabilities to locate its targets, including footage recovered from terrorists’ GoPro cameras, artificial intelligence systems and information provided by field agents.
Since the ceasefire agreement with Hamas took effect last October, the pace of operations has increased. With Hamas no longer holding Israeli hostages, the Air Force and ground forces have greater freedom of action, while testimony from released hostages and interrogations of detainees captured during military operations have provided intelligence that has helped security forces rapidly identify and strike additional targets.
On October 7, 2023, more than 1,200 Israelis were brutally murdered, and 251 others — including women, children and the elderly — were taken as hostages into Gaza. The attack was spearheaded by Nukhba terrorist fighters belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Despite the reported success, the task of bringing these Gaza-based terrorists to justice continues. Last month, the IDF scored a breakthrough when it eliminated several Hamas and Islamic Jihad commanders who led the October 7 attack. All the key masterminds of the attack, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Marwan Issa, have also been killed in targeted Israeli strikes.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY