Tel Aviv, 8 June 2025 (dpa/MIA) - The Israeli military said on Saturday it had killed the leader of the Palestinian Mujahideen Brigades who it said was directly involved in the abduction and murder of the well-known Bibas hostages.

Shiri Bibas and her two red-haired sons became symbols of the plight of Israeli hostages after video footage of the frightened mother and her two children being abducted spread around the world.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it killed As'ad Abu Sharaiya, in Gaza City in the north of the coastal strip in a joint special operation by the IDF and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service.

In recent years, he is said to have served as the leader of the relatively small Mujahideen Brigades.

The IDF said Abu Sharaiya entered the Nir Oz kibbutz on October 7, 2023, and was one of the leaders of the devastating massacre carried out by the Palestinian Islamist Hamas and other militias in Gaza.

In addition to the Bibas family, the IDF said he was involved in the kidnapping of Thai citizen Nattapong Pinta, whose body was recovered earlier on Saturday, and the couple Gadi Haggai and Judi Weinstein, whose bodies were recovered earlier this week.

MIA file photo