The IDF and the Shin Bet announced Thursday that Hamas terrorist Ahmed Ghoul – commander of Hamas’ Shati Battalion who held 19-year-old IDF soldier Corporal Noa Marciano hostage before she was murdered in captivity in November – was eliminated in a joint operation in Gaza City on Wednesday.
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“Yesterday (Wednesday), during a joint IDF and ISA operational activity in Gaza City, Ahmed Ghoul, a commander in Hamas' Shati Battalion who participated in the October 7 massacre, was eliminated by an aircraft,” the IDF said in a statement.
“After he returned to Shati in the Gaza Strip, Ghoul held IDF soldier Cpl. Noa Marciano hostage, who was murdered by the Hamas terrorist organization inside the Shifa Hospital,” according to the IDF.
In November 2023, the IDF reported that Marciano was murdered in captivity. She lived in Modi'in, served as a lookout in Nahal Oz, and was abducted on October 7 by Hamas, which later published a video of her.
Days later, the IDF recovered Marciano's body after soldiers and Shin Bet forces located her in a building near Shifa Hospital. Medical and military rabbinate authorities identified the body after it was delivered to Israel. The intelligence regarding the location of her body was provided by the Shin Bet, which directed troops in the area.
Thousands in Israel paid their respects to her at her funeral at the military cemetery in Modi'in. Her mother, Adi, mourned her: "Our Noa, at 19 you were taken from us. Since that black Saturday, we’ve had no rest, and our pain has become that of the nation. We tried everything, turned over every stone. Today, we ask your forgiveness. You watched over us, and we couldn't watch over you."
Two days later, IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari revealed that: "According to the intelligence we have in our hands, Hamas terrorists took Noa into Shifa hospital where she was murdered quickly."
"Noa was taken into Gaza alive, she was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza City next to the Shifa Hospital. During ongoing combat, in the vicinity of where she was held captive, Noa’s Hamas captor was killed and Noa was injured," Hagari said.