Two-Thirds Down – 2,000 Still Hunted

Israeli leaders say they have eliminated about two-thirds of the October 7 attackers and are hunting the rest.

Story Highlights

Israeli officials say 4,000 of 6,000 October 7 attackers have been killed.
Military Intelligence chief Shlomi Binder told the security cabinet that 2,000 remain.
Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to eliminate the remaining perpetrators.
The Israel Defense Forces reaffirmed its pledge to pursue all involved in the massacre.

What Israeli Officials Reported About The Attackers

Defense Minister Israel Katz said that 6,000 terrorists crossed from Gaza into Israel on October 7, and that 4,000 have been killed so far, leaving about 2,000 remaining. Military Intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Shlomi Binder presented these numbers to the security cabinet, saying the Israel Defense Forces will continue to track the remaining perpetrators. Binder’s message framed the effort as an active manhunt with a clear end state: find and neutralize those who took part in the attack.

The reported figures have appeared across multiple Israeli outlets and align with earlier briefings. Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post, Ynet, and other publications all carried the same core assessment on the same day, citing official briefings or senior sources. Israeli statements present the tally as an operational fact shared at the cabinet level. While details on timing and individual identities were not released, the message stresses progress and remaining targets.

How The Manhunt Fits Ongoing War Policy

The Israel Defense Forces has said since 2023 that it will not stop until all terrorists involved in the massacre are captured or killed and all hostages are brought home. Katz’s statement echoes that policy and seeks to show measurable results three years later. The language from Israeli leaders aims to deter future attacks and assure citizens that the state is actively pursuing those directly tied to the atrocities that day.

Public reporting indicates that Israeli intelligence uses images and videos from October 7, paired with facial recognition and other tools, to identify participants for targeting and arrest lists. This reflects a common wartime pattern where security services build databases from digital evidence to link individuals to crimes. Officials then use that roster to plan operations over months or years, which helps explain how a long manhunt can yield updates like the two-thirds figure.

Why The Numbers Matter To Israelis And The World

These numbers show the scale of the attack and the scope of the response. If 6,000 attackers crossed into Israel, that implies a large, organized assault force that breached border defenses and struck multiple communities. Reporting that 4,000 of them are dead suggests a sustained campaign since 2023, not just a single round of fighting. For Israelis, this is framed as justice for victims and a warning to planners of future raids.

TERRORIST HUNT MAKES SIGNIFICANT GAINS, BUT IS NOT OVER 🎯⚠️

Three years after the October 7 massacre, Israel says the hunt for those who breached its border, murdered civilians, burned communities, committed sexual violence, and dragged hostages into Gaza is not yet finished.… pic.twitter.com/RTNT2mHSwt

— Isaac Halevi 🎙️🌐 (@Isaac_Halevi) October 5, 2026

For outside audiences, the figures also signal a long conflict trajectory. Governments often release headline counts before they can publish the full underlying data. That is normal in wartime, when live operations and intelligence sources limit transparency. Israeli outlets acknowledge that prior estimates used a 5,600 denominator, while officials now cite 6,000; they do not provide a public method to reconcile the two in detail. The core official claim, however, remains consistent across briefings and reports.