The IDF has killed around two-thirds of the 6,000 terrorists who crossed into Israel during the October 7 attack, Israel’s defence minister said on Monday.
Israel Katz said 4,000 of those who participated in the Hamas-led assault had been killed.
“Six thousand terrorists crossed the border into Israel on October 7 and carried out the atrocities. Of them, 4,000 have been killed so far, leaving another 2,000,” Katz said.
The figures were presented by Maj Gen Shlomi Binder, head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate, during a Security Cabinet meeting on Sunday night.
Binder said: “Two thousand remain – we will get every last one of them.”
Katz said he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed the military and other security agencies to eliminate everyone who took part in the attack.
“We will reach them all, without limitation and under any circumstances, from the senior ranks to the junior ranks,” he said.
Posting on X, he wrote: “Prime Minister Netanyahu and I ordered the IDF to pursue and eliminate them all.
“This is the command of the murdered and the fallen, and this is our duty as a people and a state - and we will fulfil it.”
The figures are higher than previous IDF assessments, which estimated that about 5,600 terrorists infiltrated Israel on October 7, with between 1,200 and 1,600 killed inside Israel during the attack. Thousands returned to Gaza, where many were subsequently killed in fighting or targeted by Israel.
The IDF and Shin Bet have established a dedicated unit, known as Nili, to track down those involved in the assault, using intelligence, interrogations, facial-recognition technology and artificial intelligence to identify suspects.
The Hamas-led attack killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 people taken hostage, according to Israeli figures.
The latest announcement comes three years after the assault, as Israel continues to pursue those it identifies as having participated in the attack.
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