IDF Kills Terror Commander Involved in Kidnappings of Noa Argamani and Avintan Or

The Israel Defense Forces announced on Friday that they killed Ahmad Hassin Muhammad Kafina, a commander in the central camps area of the terrorist group Kataeb al-Mujahedin, in southern Gaza earlier this week. According to the IDF, Kafina was involved in the October 7 massacre and participated in the kidnappings of Avintan Or and Noa Argamani, as well as directing the abduction of Sudisak Rintalak. During the October 7 attack, Kafina and his group infiltrated Israeli territory and throughout the conflict, especially recently, he orchestrated terror attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.

The IDF stated that Kafina posed an immediate threat to Israeli forces and was eliminated in a precise aerial strike. Southern Command forces remain deployed in the area under the current agreement and will continue operations to neutralize threats. Noa Argamani and Avintan Or were kidnapped from the Nova nature festival near Re'im on October 7, 2023. A widely circulated video showed Argamani being led away on a motorcycle, screaming for help, with Or held by four militants, becoming a symbol of the massacre.

Argamani was rescued on June 8, 2024, in a joint operation by the IDF, Shin Bet, and Yamam in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The operation also freed Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv, who were also abducted from the Nova festival. During the rescue, Yamam officer Arnon Zamora was critically wounded and later died. Avintan Or was released from Hamas captivity on October 13, 2025, after 738 days, as part of the third prisoner exchange deal.

Sutthisak Rintalak, a Thai agricultural worker in Israel, was kidnapped on October 7 near Kibbutz Be'eri. He was held captive for months until early June 2025, when the IDF and Shin Bet announced he had been killed during the attack, and his body was recovered and returned to Israel in a military operation in Gaza.