Saher Sakr, who Palestinian media reports identified as one of the men involved in the abduction of former Israeli hostage Noa Argamani during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack, was killed Saturday in an airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Palestinian reports.
Sakr was reported to have been riding the motorcycle on which Argamani was forcibly taken into Gaza after she was abducted from the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im. Footage of the abduction, showing a terrified Argamani being driven away on a motorcycle while her then-boyfriend, Avinatan Or, was taken separately, circulated around the world and became one of the most recognizable images of the Oct. 7 attack.
Aftermath of an airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, where Palestinian reports said Saher Sakr was killed
There was no immediate confirmation from the IDF or the Shin Bet domestic security agency that Sakr had been killed.
Argamani and Or were both abducted from the Nova festival. Argamani was rescued eight months later, on June 8, 2024, in a major Israeli operation in Nuseirat that also freed hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv. The operation was later named Operation Arnon after Israeli police counterterrorism officer Arnon Zmora, who was fatally wounded during the rescue.
Or remained in Gaza for more than two years. He was released from captivity on Oct. 13, 2025, after 738 days and reunited with Argamani. After her rescue, Argamani had become a prominent advocate for the release of Or and the other hostages still held in Gaza. The couple separated in March 2026 after 11 years together.
Palestinian media, meanwhile, reported casualties Sunday morning in another Israeli strike near the White Mosque in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City. Details on the number and condition of those reported wounded or killed were not immediately available.
In recent months, Israeli security forces have said they are systematically tracking and targeting terrorists identified as having crossed into Israel during the Oct. 7 attack and participated in killings, abductions and other atrocities. The military says some of those terrorists have remained active in Hamas and are involved in rebuilding its forces.
A Southern Command official recently told ynet that targeting Oct. 7 participants serves both to hold those responsible for the attack to account and to disrupt Hamas’ efforts to rebuild.
“The desire to close the circle with those who committed the atrocities goes hand in hand with the desire to stop processes within Hamas that we cannot accept,” the official said.
The military and Shin Bet do not follow a single operational formula for such strikes. A dedicated command center closely monitors designated targets, attempting to track their movements and identify opportunities to strike.
Noa Argamani is taken into Gaza on a motorcycle as her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, is abducted separately during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack
Some attacks are launched rapidly when new intelligence provides a fleeting opportunity, while others can be planned in detail for days or longer, according to the Southern Command official.
“A strike is built around opportunities, but that isn’t the only thing that determines whether we attack,” the official said. “Once we decide that a target is a target, we try to make sure everything comes together — both the opportunity, which comes from intelligence surveillance, and other factors that cannot be discussed.”
The official said IDF forces first compile lists of targets and then wait for what they consider an appropriate opportunity to strike with the greatest possible precision.
“There are a large number of terrorists in the Gaza Strip, so first we build a target list and then wait for a good opportunity to strike, and of course with the greatest precision possible,” he said.
Noa Argamani
(Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
Security agencies have accumulated extensive information about the Oct. 7 attack while continuing to uncover additional details, the official said.
“The list of terrorists is with us every day,” he said. “That list will not leave us. It is constantly before us, including from a moral and ethical standpoint, to close the circle with each and every one of them.”
The official said a large intelligence and operational apparatus works around the clock on the effort, regardless of fluctuations in the overall intensity of fighting in Gaza.
“Even when the intensity of the fighting changes, we are still here, maintaining the highest possible level of strike activity,” he said. “There is not a moment of attrition.”