IDF kills Oct. 7 terrorist who kidnapped Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eliya Cohen, Alon Ohel, Or Levy
The terrorist, identified as Yousef Ayesh Awad Ramadan, was a deputy commander of a Hamas Nukhba terrorist cell who infiltrated Israel during the October 7th attacks.
The IDF killed a Hamas terrorist on Monday who participated in the kidnappings of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eliya Cohen, Alon Ohel, and Or Levy during the October 7th massacre.
The terrorist, identified as Yousef Ayesh Awad Ramadan, was a deputy commander of a Hamas Nukhba terrorist cell who infiltrated Israel during the October 7th massacre and took part in abducting the Israeli hostages who were taking refuge in a bomb shelter at the Re’im Junction.
The military said that Ramadan had “advanced attack plans against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians” during the war and in the recent weeks, posing a threat to the IDF soldiers operating in Gaza.
“Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance,” the IDF said.
IDF’s profile of the Hamas terrorist Yousef Ayesh Awad Ramadan. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT)
Ohel, who was released in October 2025 as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, reacted to Ramadan’s assassination with an Instagram story where he thanked the IDF for its work on all fronts and asked the military to continue “until the last terrorist.”
IDF kills Hamas chief, October 7th terrorists
The IDF killed additional October 7th terrorists back on May 16, when it targeted Hamer Iyad Muhammad Almatouk and Khaled Muhammad Salem Joudeh in separate strikes in the northern Gaza Strip.
Before the strikes, the two Hamas terrorists tried to carry out attacks against Israeli troops operating in the area, posing an immediate threat and triggering the precision strikes.
A day before, Hamas military leader Izz ad-Din al-Haddad was killed, with IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir describing the operation as a “significant operational achievement.”
“In every conversation I held with the hostages who returned, the name of the arch-terrorist Izz ad-Din al-Haddad, one of the chief perpetrators of the October 7 massacre and the head of Hamas’ military wing, came up again and again,” Zamir said in a statement released on Saturday. “Today, we succeeded in eliminating him.”
The air force carried out the strike after receiving intelligence from the Southern Command and Military Intelligence Directorate on Haddad’s location, which had been identified after years of military intelligence collection.
Approval was given to the IDF by government officials about 10 days prior to the attack, according to the media.
Prior to the attack, the air force carried out a “deception operation” approved by Maj.-Gen. Omer Tischler.
Amir Bohbot, Ariella Roitman, and Goldie Katz contributed to this report.
