Israel says killed October 7 attacker filmed abducting couple

Sakr drove the motorcycle used to abduct Argamani and Or, according to the statement.

A woman and her children walk past a wall with photographs of hostages who were kidnapped during the Oct. 7 Hamas cross-border attack in Israel in Jerusalem. File photo| AP

JERUSALEM: Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian militant who was filmed abducting a couple at a music festival during Hamas's deadly attack on October 7, 2023, the military said on Sunday.

Video footage widely circulated in the aftermath of the attack showed militants abducting Noa Argamani and her boyfriend Avinatan Or at the Nova music festival.

Argamani was rescued in June 2024 during an Israeli operation in the central Gaza Strip, while Or was released by Hamas last October as part of a ceasefire deal.

Israeli forces "struck in the Nuseirat area and eliminated the terrorist Saher Nidal Latfi Sakr, a terrorist operative affiliated with global jihadist organisations operating in the Gaza Strip," the Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday.

Sakr drove the motorcycle used to abduct Argamani and Or, according to the statement.

Hamas and allied factions killed at least 370 people and took 44 hostages at the Nova festival on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli figures.