The IDF and Shin Bet have acknowledged what many suspected to be true: They have established a special operation conducted by a unit called Nili to hunt down and eliminate every single terrorist who participated in the Oct. 7 attack, abused hostages, held hostages in captivity or participated in the hostage release ceremonies. Hamas leaders who orchestrated the attack were also included on the list.

Nili has achieved stunning successes so far, eliminating about 2,700 of the approximately 5,000 terrorists who participated in the attack, with 1,200 killed during the invasion. Nili operatives, who comprise Shin Bet officials and IDF soldiers and reservists, used footage from Hamas GoPro cameras, facial recognition software, online video and photographic evidence, artificial intelligence and traditional tools to collect information on the ground, members of the Nili unit told Channel 12 News in their first open acknowledgment of the special operation.

Finding and locating the terrorists meant sifting through thousands of documents and other pieces of evidence, “an endless pile of material,” as described by Adi Rotem, a former senior official with the Shin Bet.

The terrorists who kidnapped Yaffa Adar, 85; Yagil Yaakov, 12; Yarden Bibas; and Avinatan Or, as well as the terrorist who drove his tractor through the border fence, have all been eliminated.

“It could be the driver who drove a tractor [across the border], and it could be a Nukhba company commander who led the invasion,” said Lammed, a Nili operative who is also a lieutenant in the IDF’s Southern Command.

“You feel the tension [during a mission to eliminate terrorists],” she added. “You feel the quiet, the seconds before the missile hits; everyone is just waiting for the strike to hit the person.”

Lammed described the mission targeting a platoon commander who led the invasion of the Nahal Oz IDF base.

“We knew what time he went to the shop, we knew the path he took; this is the task of intelligence, to take every target of interest to us, and investigate him down to the smallest detail, to the level of when he goes to pray, and what he eats for breakfast,” she explained.