IDF Kills Hamas Terrorist Involved in Kidnapping of Colonel Asaf Hamami

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) eliminated Hassam Shaafi, a Hamas terrorist from the East Khan Younis Battalion, who actively participated in the October 7 raid on Kibbutz Nirim and the kidnapping of Colonel Asaf Hamami and his command post soldiers. The targeted operation took place in southern Gaza on Tuesday, closing a significant chapter in the investigation of the massacre events in the Gaza envelope communities on October 7.

Shaafi was involved in the abduction of Colonel Hamami, the Southern Brigade commander in the Gaza Division, as well as Staff Sergeant Tomer Achimas and Corporal Kiril Brodsky, who served under Hamami and were killed defending the kibbutz. The IDF credited the killing to meticulous intelligence gathering and precise airstrike coordination by the Gaza Division’s fire control center, the same unit where the fallen soldiers served.

Throughout the months of fighting and recent periods, Shaafi continued to plan various terror activities, posing a serious threat to Israeli forces operating in Gaza. Colonel Asaf Hamami was the highest-ranking IDF officer killed in the October 7 terror attack; his body was returned from Gaza in November 2025.