The Israeli Army confirmed the death of Jihad Kamal Salem Najjar, a member of Hamas's armed wing, during an airstrike carried out on August 10 in the southern Gaza Strip.
The information was released in a joint statement by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the internal intelligence service Shin Bet, which identified Najjar as one of the direct perpetrators of the kidnapping of Argentine-Israeli citizen Yarden Bibas, who was captured during the massive attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
The operation, coordinated under the supervision of the IDF Southern Command, is part of Israel's military policy to eliminate the perpetrators of Hamas's incursion into Israeli territory, an attack that left around 1,200 dead and 251 kidnapped. Along with the statement, the Army released a photograph of the moment of Bibas's abduction in which Najjar is indicated, confirming his role in the action.
Jihad Kamal Salem Najjar secuestrando a Yarden Bibas.
Yarden Bibas's case became one of the most representative of the October 7 attack. On that day, he was captured along with his wife Shiri and their children Ariel, four years old, and Kfir, just nine months old. Investigations determined that the father was held in a different location from his wife and children. Subsequently, on November 29, Hamas announced that Shiri and the children had died during an Israeli airstrike while they remained in captivity.
Bibas managed to leave Gaza on February 1, as part of a temporary truce reached between Israel and Hamas. In that same negotiation, the Islamist group handed over to the Red Cross the bodies of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir, along with that of hostage Oded Lifshitz, on February 20.
The return of the remains was surrounded by controversy, after the Abu Kabir National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv warned that one of the bodies did not correspond to Shiri and that the remains showed signs inconsistent with death by airstrike, contradicting Hamas's version.
The funeral of the Bibas family members was attended by thousands of people and exposed discrepancies regarding the management of the return of the bodies. The Israeli Government described Hamas's handling as "repulsive and horrendous", denouncing the political and symbolic use of the delivery of the corpses.
Yarden Bibas junto a su esposa Shiri y sus hijos Ariel y Kfir.
After the confirmation of Najjar's elimination, Yarden Bibas conveyed a message through the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. "A small part of my closure happened today. Thank you to the IDF, Shin Bet, and everyone who participated in the elimination of one of the terrorists who kidnapped me on October 7. Thanks to you, he won't be able to harm anyone else. Please take care of yourselves, heroes. I'm still waiting for full closure with the return of my friends David and Ariel, and the remaining 48 hostages".
The Israeli Army emphasized that it will continue operations aimed at dismantling Hamas's structure in Gaza and locating the hostages still held by the terrorist group.
The situation of the captives and the dispute over the return of bodies continues to fuel political and military tension, while families' demands persist to ensure the return of the kidnapped.
