The Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security agency said Muhammad Na’im Jandiya, a Hamas figure accused of involvement in hostage abductions and detention, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip.
The agencies announced the operation on a Friday and said the strike itself took place on the preceding Wednesday. The supplied reports did not provide a more precise location, describe the circumstances of the strike or identify any other casualties. Hamas was not quoted responding to the Israeli announcement. [Source 14242]
According to the Israeli military and Shin Bet, Jandiya served as the head of military security for Hamas’s Shajaiyah Battalion. The agencies alleged that he participated in the October 7, 2023, abduction of Captain Daniel Perez and subsequently helped hold other hostages in Gaza. Ynetnews also identified Jandiya as the Shajaiyah security chief and linked him to hostage abductions. [Sources 14242, 14243]
The Jerusalem Post reported, citing the Israeli authorities, that Jandiya held Yotam Haim, Samar Talalka and Alon Shamriz in tunnels beneath Gaza’s Shuja’iya area after the October 7 attack. The three men were later mistakenly killed by Israeli forces. [Source 14242]
The Israeli military further alleged that Jandiya had recently sought to advance attacks against its troops operating inside the Gaza Strip. It also said he participated in Hamas ceremonies connected to preparations for hostage-release agreements during the war. The available evidence does not include independent confirmation of those allegations, and the claims are therefore attributed to the Israeli agencies that made them. [Source 14242]
Perez was the commander of St.-Sgt. Itay Chen and Sgt. Tomer Leibovitz, both of whom were killed on October 7, according to The Jerusalem Post. He also commanded Matan Angrest, who was taken hostage. [Source 14242]
Rabbi Doron Perez, Daniel Perez’s father, publicly thanked the Shin Bet and the Israeli military following the announcement. In a video shared on social media, he praised their efforts to hold people responsible for the attacks to account and described Israel as a close national community. [Source 14242]
The Israeli statement places Jandiya’s alleged role across several stages of the hostage crisis: participation in an initial abduction, involvement in holding captives underground and activity surrounding later release arrangements. However, the supplied reporting rests primarily on the account given by Israel’s military and domestic security service. It does not provide documentary evidence, a statement from Hamas or an independent assessment confirming Jandiya’s death and the full scope of the conduct attributed to him.
Neither supplied source supports the separate assertion that the strike violated a ceasefire, so that characterization has not been included in this report.
