Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist who held Israelis captive in Gaza Strip and directed attacks during October 7 eliminated in IDF strike.By David Rosenberg, World Israel NewsThe Israeli military and the Shin Bet security agency said Tuesday that they killed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist who helped hold Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip and commanded terrorists during the October 7 massacre.The military and security agency said that Talal Jaber Mohammad Abd al-Aal was killed in an Israeli strike Sunday in the southern Gaza Strip.According to the joint statement, Abd al-Aal held several positions in Palestinian Islamic Jihad and commanded a cell of terrorists that infiltrated Israel during the Hamas-led October 7 attack.“Abd al-Aal commanded a terrorist cell that raided Israeli territory and took part in the October 7 massacre,” the IDF and Shin Bet said.The agencies said Abd al-Aal was also involved during the war in holding hostages who were in Palestinian Islamic Jihad captivity in southern Gaza.“Throughout the war, Abd al-Aal took part in holding the hostages who were in the hands of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization in the southern Gaza Strip,” the statement said.The IDF said Southern Command forces remain deployed in the area in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and would continue acting to remove immediate threats.The announcement drew an emotional response from former hostage Rom Braslavski, who said Abd al-Aal was the commander known to him as “Abu Yusuf” and accused him of personally abusing him during his captivity.“We wanted to inform you that Abu Yusuf was eliminated,” an IDF official told Braslavski, who shared a recording of the phone call on social media.“That was the sequence of words that changed my life,” Braslavski wrote.Braslavski said Abd al-Aal was the man who controlled the cell that held him for a year and ordered his abuse while he was bound, injured and close to death.“This is Talal Abd al-Aal. Or as I know him — Abu Yusuf,” Braslavski wrote. “This is the man who weighed 100 kilograms [220 pounds] and jumped on my neck when I was malnourished.”Braslavski said Abd al-Aal forced him, while he was tied by his hands and feet and covered in bruises, to open his mouth before spitting into it.“This is the commander who commanded me and managed the terrorist cell that held me for a full year,” he wrote. “This is the commander who gave the order: ‘Tie Abu Salem up and abuse him.’”Braslavski said “Abu Salem” was the name his captors used for him.“This is the man by whose order, and with his own hands, they abused me and almost killed me several times,” he wrote.In his post, Braslavski also addressed Abd al-Aal directly, recalling that the terrorist had once told him to pass a message to the Shin Bet and had made an obscene gesture toward an Israeli drone, saying he was not afraid.“The message was delivered,” Braslavski wrote. “Enjoy hell.”Braslavski thanked the IDF, Shin Bet, Israeli security forces and soldiers, saying they had avenged what was done to him.“You took my revenge,” he wrote. “Only now can I say 100 percent — I won.”Braslavski, who was abducted from the Nova music festival area during the October 7 attack, was held in Gaza by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. During captivity, the terror group released videos of him, including footage showing him in severely deteriorated condition.After his release, Braslavski described severe abuse in captivity, including starvation, beatings, humiliation and sexual violence. His family has said he returned from Gaza physically and emotionally shattered.The post Ex-Gaza hostage celebrates the killing of his captor appeared first on World Israel News.