IDF, Shin Bet acknowledge for first time special mission to hunt down and kill all Oct. 7 terrorists

Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter

For the first time, the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet have acknowledged that a special operation has been established with a dedicated unit to hunt down and kill every single Palestinian terrorist involved in the October 7, 2023 invasion and massacres.

As recently reported by The Times of Israel, the IDF and Shin Bet have devoted significant time and resources to eliminating the terrorists who took part in the October 7 atrocities in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.

Officers of the special joint IDF – Shin Bet unit dubbed “Nili” have worked over the last three years to compile an extensive list running to thousands of names of those involved in the atrocities, and painstakingly worked to identify, find and eliminate them.

The IDF and Shin Bet refused multiple requests for comment from the Times of Israel when it reported last month that the military and security agency have in the past few months stepped up a large-scale retribution campaign with the aim of hunting down and eliminating every single terrorist who took part in the October 7 massacre.

Israel has created a list of all the Gazans who were identified as having invaded Israeli territory on October 7, the Times of Israel reported, using a plethora of video and photographic evidence of the attack posted online by terrorists on and after the attack, and running the footage through facial recognition software. Also on the list are all Hamas leaders involved in orchestrating the massacre, according to Israeli officials.

Speaking to Channel 12 news on Saturday night, some of the Nili officers openly described their mission for the first time, detailing who has been targeted and the means used to locate and kill them.

According to the Channel 12 report, 2,800 people on Nili's list have been killed, including the 1,200 terrorists killed by Israeli security forces in southern Israel during the onslaught, the worst ever invasion of Israel and the bloodiest single attack in the history of the nation.

The Times of Israel reported last month that of the estimated 5,000 terrorists who participated in the October 7 attack or helped hold hostages, more than 2,700 have been confirmed by the military to have been killed — including those who were killed during the onslaught and those targeted in the Strip amid the war. Another 300 alleged perpetrators have been captured by Israel and await judgment by special military tribunals, which have yet to be set up. Those convicted of genocide will be eligible for the death penalty.

According to the officers interviewed by Channel 12, as well as Adi Rotem, a former senior official in the Shin Bet, Nili created a spreadsheet with thousands of names, and then began the immense, laborious, and time-consuming task of identifying and locating each name.

Rotem described the information amassed as “an endless pile of material,” which the Nili’s officers compiled and worked through.

The unit developed specialized tools for facial recognition to identify their targets, using, among other sources, the footage from the GoPro-style cameras used by the terrorists when they recorded their massacres and atrocities on October 7.

Traditional intelligence tools involving Shin Bet and IDF Intelligence agents on the ground were also used to collect information, as well as information from Palestinian detainees held in Israel, while artificial intelligence tools were used to “complete the picture,” Rotem added.

Aleph, a Sergeant First Class in Nili, said that the unit also added everyone to its kill list who was involved in holding the hostages taken captive by terrorists from southern Israel, as well as those who met with them and abused them in their captivity.

Terrorists who participated in the hostage release ceremonies have also been targeted.

Among those eliminated have been the terrorists who kidnapped 85-year old Yaffa Adar, 12-year old Yagil Yaakov, Yarden Bibas, and Avinatan Or, as well as the driver of a tractor who infamously broke through the border fence, the TV report said.

“It could be the driver who drove a tractor [across the border], and it could be a Nukhba company commander who led the invasion,” said Lammed, a lieutenant in the IDF’s southern command working in Nili.

“You feel the tension [when an elimination operation is underway]. You feel the quiet, the seconds before the missile hits; everyone is just waiting for the strike to hit the person,” she added.

Lammed said by way of example that just a few weeks ago a platoon commander who led the infamous invasion of the Nachal Oz IDF base was eliminated as a result of Nili’s work.

“We knew what time he went to the shop, we knew the path he took; this is the task of intelligence, to take every target of interest to us, and investigate him down to the smallest detail, to the level of when he goes to pray, and what he eats for breakfast,” said Lammed.

The Nili unit was named after the World War I-era Jewish underground spy organization Nili.

Israeli officials have also invoked the aftermath of the 1972 Munich Olympics as a precedent for the retribution campaign against the October 7 terrorists, The Times of Israel reported last month, pointing to the years-long and partially successful Mossad-led effort to track down and eliminate anyone linked to the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes during the Games.

The Nili unit was established immediately after the Hamas-led attack, The Times of Israel reported. It is made up of experienced intelligence personnel from the IDF and Shin Bet, both in the standing army and reserves. An IDF official said after the October 2025 ceasefire began that the Nili unit’s efforts would continue “even as time passes, until the last of [the terrorists is killed],” and that they were being carried out “in accordance with the legal and operational framework.”

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.

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