IDF and Shin Bet kill militant who forced hostage Omar Shem Tov to kiss him

The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet said Saturday they killed Sabai Abu Hasna, a Nukhba terrorist, in northern Gaza. According to the agencies, Abu Hasna was involved in holding hostage Omar Shem Tov and took part in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. They said he spent the war planting explosive devices and had recently tried to advance terror plots against Israeli troops operating in the area.

In a separate strike in northern Gaza, the IDF and Shin Bet said three armed Hamas militants were also killed after trying to promote attacks against Israeli forces. The military said Southern Command troops remain deployed in line with the agreement and will continue working to remove any threat.

The killing of Abu Hasna comes after footage from Shem Tov’s release from Hamas captivity went viral in Arab media, showing him kissing a Hamas operative on the forehead during the release ceremony. Hamas claimed the image was spontaneous and showed the “high ethics” with which al-Qassam treats prisoners. Time later wrote that the hostage kissed two armed men beside him on the head and blew kisses to the crowd, while France’s Le Figaro ran a headline describing him as embracing two Hamas men.

Only later did additional footage make clear that a Hamas cameraman had asked Shem Tov to do it. Another video showed him being told to kiss the forehead of a second militant as well. Shem Tov’s family reacted angrily, saying he had been forced to kiss the man who held and abused him for a year and four months. After his release, Shem Tov later joked at a March 2025 ceremony in Herzliya that the last time he had been on a stage was in Gaza and that, if anyone wanted a kiss on the forehead, they could come forward. He also said he was kidnapped on October 7 and held for 505 days, and that he never lost hope of returning home.