Newspaper Reveals: Israel Carried Out Brutal Retaliatory Operations Against the Captors of the 'October 7 Hostages' and Their Families

SadaNews - The London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper published a report in its Saturday edition about a brutal retaliatory operation carried out by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip against leaders and members of the Palestinian resistance, who participated in the abduction and holding of Israelis during the attack on October 7, 2023.

According to the newspaper, the most notable retaliatory operation targeted prominent and field leaders and activists from the "Mujahideen Brigades," which abducted Israeli Shiri Bibas and her two children from Kibbutz Nirim during that attack.

The newspaper stated that armed individuals on a motorcycle targeted a leader from the "Mujahideen Brigades" named Mohammad Abu Mustafa in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, on the second of this month, before fleeing towards areas under Israeli control.

It mentioned that investigations revealed that Israel focused on assassinating those responsible for the abduction of the Bibas family, and the assassinations affected the central command of the Mujahideen Brigades, a faction founded primarily in 2003 after its split from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, and became more prominent and powerful in 2006.

This military faction includes hundreds of armed individuals scattered throughout the Gaza Strip, most of whom are from the Abu Sharia clan in the Sudani neighborhood south of Gaza City. Prominent activists from the clan established this military faction, which has received significant support from Iran, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad over the years.

The newspaper quoted sources from Gaza stating that senior and field leaders, as well as activists connected to the abduction of the Bibas family, have been subjected to a series of regular assassinations, especially after the bodies of Shiri and her children Kafir and Ariel were handed over on February 21, 2025.

Six activists and eight leaders from different levels of the Mujahideen Brigades were targeted in the cities of Khan Younis and Gaza, including the secretary-general of the brigades, As'ad Abu Sharia, who was assassinated at his home in the Sudani neighborhood along with over 30 members of his family and relatives on June 7 last year. Ibrahim Abu Sharia was also killed along with his wife and children, and Israeli planes killed his daughter and son-in-law in what sources described as a "retaliatory operation." Relatives of assassinated leaders were also killed, including sons and daughters in separate operations with their spouses, as in the case of field leader Mohammad Awad, who was assassinated last April, and Mahmoud Kahi, who was also assassinated last June.

Israel accused As'ad Abu Sharia of personally participating in the abduction and killing of Shiri, Ariel, and Kafir Bibas, as well as being involved in the abduction of the couple Gadi Hagi and Judy Lynn Weinstein, and Natibong Penta and another foreign citizen.

Sources claim that Shiri Bibas and her children were killed in an airstrike targeting a house they were in in Khan Younis, south of Gaza Strip, at the beginning of the war specifically in November 2023, indicating that Shiri confirmed during brief investigations conducted with her while in captivity that she worked at the Southern Command headquarters of the Israeli army within the famous "Unit 8200" intelligence division; a claim that Israel did not confirm.

After Israel received the three bodies, it reported that Shiri and her children were killed by "Mujahideen Brigades" members after being beaten or choked, and not due to any airstrike or gunfire, according to its claim, a matter denied by the "Mujahideen" and "Al-Qassam Brigades," the military wing of Hamas.

Israel attempted to use its claims for media purposes worldwide, utilizing images of the Bibas children and their mother to disseminate in the world through posters placed in European capitals, accusing "Hamas" of killing Israeli children.

This operation was not the only one where Israel retaliated against Palestinian activists who specifically abducted Israelis, or in some cases that garnered more sympathy within and outside Israel; such as Arbel Yehud, which Israel insisted on releasing in exchange for the return of displaced persons from southern Gaza to its northern areas in January 2025, with some Israeli sources claiming at the time that she was tortured and assaulted by her captors, a matter denied by Palestinian factions.

Sources from the "Al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades"; the military wing of the Resistance Committees, told the London newspaper that Israeli intelligence pursued many of its activists who oversaw the abduction of Arbel Yehud and Ariel Kounia and tried for two years during the war to determine their fate. After Arbel was released, the focus increased to search for Kounia and learn of his fate before he was recently handed over as part of the last exchange deal.

An Israeli special force assassinated Ahmad Sarhan, a leader in the brigades, on May 19 last year, who was involved in their abduction and holding, and his wife and child were kidnapped after the force failed to bring him alive into Israel, before she was released in the last exchange deals, following insistence from the Palestinian negotiating delegation.

Sources mentioned that the investigation with Sarhan's wife focused on the whereabouts of Kounia and the individuals who were with her husband throughout their captivity. However, she did not possess any information on that and yielded no results concerning Kounia or any of the resistance fighters.

Israel also killed, in a retaliatory manner, many families of resistance members who had participated in abducting and holding Israelis, as the newspaper reports from its sources.