The Israeli government intends to hunt down Hamas leaders who planned and carried out the Oct. 7 attacks. According to the Jerusalem Post, the Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, and the Mossad, the country's national intelligence agency, are in charge of launching a special task force called Nili.

The acronym Nili, which stands for "the Eternal One of Israel will not lie" in Hebrew (Netzakh Israël Lo Yesshaker), was already used in the previous century as a Jewish spy network that assisted the United Kingdom in its fight against the Ottoman Empire in the East.

The mission of the Nili task force will be to neutralize members of Nukbha, the special operations wing of the Al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas. Many of these armed terrorists, around 1,000 according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), were killed during clashes in response to the Oct. 7 attack.

Air strikes

Among the terrorists that have been killed are some leaders such as Bilal Al Quedra and Ali Qadhi, both commanders of Hamas militias in the Gaza Strip. Al Quedra, who is commander of the Nukhba force, was killed during an Israeli airstrike, as reported by the IDF. It was the Shin Bet that provided the information on his whereabouts. According to the IDF, Al Quedra was one of the masterminds behind the attacks against the kibbutzim of Nirim and Nir Oz in southern Israel.

Refuge in Qatar

Many other leaders remain missing. The Nili special force is made up of both Shin Bet and the Mossad because the Israeli intelligence services suspect that those responsible for the Oct. 7 massacre are hiding both in Palestinian territories and in different countries in the Middle East.

Qatar stands out as a potential hiding spot for these terrorists. While it is a country that claims to mediate for the release of Israelis and international hostages, Qatar is the country in the Persian Gulf, which, along with Iran, is most hostile towards Israel. Although other countries began to normalize their relationship with the Jewish state, Qatar has not yet taken those steps. According to reports, it has also hosted Hamas' political leaders when they met with representatives of Iran and Hezbollah.