Tel Aviv:
Israel has created a list of Palestinians it believes took part in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks and is trying to either kill or arrest every person on it.
The list includes Palestinians from Gaza who were identified as having crossed into Israel during the attack, as well as Hamas leaders allegedly involved in planning the assault, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
In the assault, around 1,200 people were killed, and 251 others were taken hostage, most of them civilians.
“The men were crossed off a list of thousands of names kept by an Israeli task force created for one job—to kill or capture all who planned or joined in the Oct. 7 attack,” said an official.
The report says the Israeli task force is called NILI, short for the Hebrew phrase “Netzach Yisrael Lo Yeshaker,” which means “The Eternal One of Israel does not lie.”
Former senior Shin Bet official Shalom Ben Hanan told the Jerusalem Post that the operation is also meant to warn future attackers about the consequences of such attacks.
According to the Jerusalem Post, NILI has compiled a list containing thousands of suspected Hamas fighters and others accused of participating in the October 7 assault. Many names have already reportedly been removed from the list after the suspects were killed or captured.
In one instance, Israeli woman Noa Argamani was being taken away on a motorcycle by militants from Gaza while she screamed for help. Her boyfriend was being held back by other men and could not reach her. She was held captive in Gaza for 245 days before Israeli forces rescued her.
After her rescue, Israeli intelligence agencies identified two men seen in the video restraining her boyfriend. The report says both men were later killed in separate Israeli airstrikes.
The report says Israel is targeting people at every level, from senior Hamas commanders to individuals accused of carrying out smaller roles during the attack.
One example mentioned was a man accused of driving a tractor through the Gaza border fence during the assault. The report said he was later killed in an Israeli airstrike while walking on a narrow city street nearly two years later.
“Revenge is an important part of the discourse,” said Michael Milstein, a former senior Israeli military intelligence officer on Palestinian affairs in the Middle East. “It is about how serious anyone in your environment sees you.”
