IDF kills Bibas family kidnappers, hostage video producer in Gaza

Former Israeli hostage Tal Shoham began speaking at the United Nations on Friday morning, detailing his personal account from his time held in Hamas captivity.

He spoke to an audience of over 100 diplomats, N12 reported.

שורד השבי טל שהם באו״ם: "היינו בצינוק ללא חמצן. הייתי ברעב תמידי"

ישיר | https://t.co/S4JpLFO9aN pic.twitter.com/GE9N7MxAYx

— החדשות - N12 (@N12News) April 4, 2025

The IDF killed Hamas commander Hassan Farhat during a strike in Lebanon's Sidon, the military announced on Friday morning.

Farhat was the commander of the western sector of Hamas in Lebanon, the IDF said. 

During the war, Farhat was responsible for numerous terrorist plots, including launching rockets into Safed, the military added.

Addtionally, Farhat was responsible for launching the rocket fire that killed Staff-Sergeant Omer Sarah Benjo in February and wounded several others.

The IDF probe into its failure to protect Nirim in the southern part of the Gaza Corridor from Hamas on October 7, 2023, was issued on Friday.

Around 150 Hamas terrorists, in three waves, invaded Nirim and the surrounding areas, murdering five civilians and taking hostage five deceased residents. In battles in and around Nirim, Hamas invaders killed 10 soldiers and took another eight soldiers hostage.

Prior to the war, it had a population of just over 400, and it is located close to Nir Oz, which was also utterly abandoned by the IDF until the early afternoon of October 7, when it was mostly too late to confront Hamas invaders, who had mostly returned to Gaza.

Residents did acknowledge to The Jerusalem Post that there are many more IDF positions nearby now and that Nirim's "White House" - a small nearby outpost - now has four times as many forces as it did on October 7, including more tanks.

The IDF began conducting ground activity in the Shuja'iya area of Gaza on Friday morning with the intention of expanding the security zone in the area, the military announced.

The military added that during the ground activity, the troops killed numerous terrorists and dismantled Hamas infrastructure.

Among the terror infrastructure that was destroyed was a Hamas command and control center that was used for planning and executing terror attacks, the IDF said. 

Senior Hamas leader Hassan Farhat was killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon's Sidon, the Hezbollah-affiliated news channel Al Mayadeen reported on Friday morning.

Two additional people were also killed during the strike, according to the Al Mayadeen report.

This is a developing story.

New footage from the kidnapping and captivity of Israeli hostage Matan Angrest, 22, during  October 7, in which he is documented being attacked, was chosen to be released on Thursday evening by his mother, Anat Angrest.

Angrest was captured in uniform from a tank while wounded and unconscious at the Nahal Oz outpost on the Gaza border during the attacks. 

In the released footage, Angrest can be seen surrounded by terrorists on the tank with his uniform ripped off the upper half of his body, as his arms are held up.

Angrest is then seen on his knees as the terrorists continue to hold his hands behind his back.

החייל מתן אנגרסט כבר 545 ימים בשבי חמאס: הערב ב״עובדה״ @eyalgonen1 עם התיעוד המטלטל מרגעי החטיפה של מתן מתוך הטנק pic.twitter.com/7sjDgZATBB

— עובדה (@Uvda_tweet) April 3, 2025

The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) struck four Hamas terrorists on Wednesday, one of whom participated in the October 7 Hamas attacks in 2023, the military announced on Thursday evening.

The terrorist that partook in the October 7 attacks and was killed was Shadi Diab Abd Al-Hamid Falouji. He was a part of the terror organization's East Jabalya Battalion.

The second terrorist was named Mohammed Sharif, a terrorist in Hamas's general security apparatus involved in the terror group's hostage release ceremony of the released Israeli hostage Agam Berger.

The third terrorist was Mohammed Hani Atiya Daour, who served as the Head of Hamas's Rocket and Mortar Squad.

The fourth terrorist was Mohammed Issa Mahmoud Askari, also a terrorist in Hamas's general security apparatus, the IDF said.

Both the police and the IDF completely ignored all security dangers regarding the Nova music festival leading into and during Hamas’s October 7 invasion of southern Israel, it appears based on the IDF's October 7 probe issued on Thursday.

The police still have not issued their own probe and did not respond to requests for comment. 

There has also been a large controversy over whether to place greater blame on the police or the IDF regarding the Nova music festival disaster.

Economy Minister Nir Barkat on Tuesday accused Qatar of being the world's leading sponsor of terrorism and called on the Israeli government to take legislative action declaring it a terror-supporting state.

Former Israeli UN representative Gilad Erdan stated that the "UN is a lost cause. It has no real ability to protect human rights," during a conversation with Israel's Defense and Security Forum (Habitchonistim)'s Vice President of Research and Content, Or Yissachar, at their "Year of Opportunity" National Security Conference, hosted by partnership with Channel 14, on Thursday.