The IDF killed the terrorist Zaid Zaki Abd al-Hadi Aql in a strike conducted on October 29, the military confirmed on Wednesday.
Hadi Aql was involved in holding six hostages captive in Gaza: Bar Kuperstein, Ohad Ben Ami, Maxim Herkin, Elkana Bohbot, Segev Kalfon, and Yosef-Haim Ohana.
"He was not 'just another terrorist,' he was the gateway to hell. The pit where we were lowered into was in his house; the place where our lives above ground ended, and we reached a depth no person should ever know," Kalfon said in response to his death, calling him a troll.
"There, he watched and encouraged the 'game of life': they stood around us, counted us, aimed Kalashnikovs, released the safety catch, and asked us to decide which three among us would be executed."
"Some will say, 'He got what he deserved,' but the truth and justice must continue to be pursued. No bullet that eliminates a terrorist closes any story," Kalfon concluded.
In September, the IDF confirmed that security forces killed Hamas terrorist Hazem Awni Naeem, who held Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Naama Levy hostage.
Naeem was killed in a coordinated strike by the IDF and Shin Bet on August 28 in the Gaza City area.
Additional terrorist who held Damari hostage killed
Mohammed Nasser Ali Qanita, another Hamas terrorist who held Damari and the others captive, was confirmed killed by the IDF and Shin Bet in July, following a targeted attack in mid-June.
Qanita was a member of Hamas’s military intelligence's al-Furqan Battalion. He infiltrated Israel on October 7 and then held Damari hostage in his home at the start of the war.