Day 961: NILI Task Force Continues Systematic Elimination of October 7 Perpetrators Through Ceasefire — 'Hundreds' of ~3,000 Participants Killed or Arrested; AI-Assisted Targeting Campaign Operational

On May 25, 2026 (Day 961 / Ceasefire Day 228), Israel's NILI task force — a secret joint unit run by Shin Bet and Mossad, revealed by the Wall Street Journal on May 21–22 — continued its systematic campaign to kill or capture every identified participant in the October 7, 2023 attack. NILI is a Hebrew acronym for 'Netzach Yisrael Lo Yeshaker' ('The Eternal One of Israel does not lie'), reflecting the unit's ethos that no perpetrator will be forgotten or escape accountability. The task force maintains a comprehensive database of all approximately 3,000 participants in the October 7 massacre, compiled through facial recognition technology, cellphone data, seized Hamas documents, and testimony from returned hostages and detainees. Two independent pieces of evidence identifying an individual as a participant are sufficient for a death warrant — without a trial. 'Hundreds' have been crossed off the list across the ceasefire period. Officials described it as 'one of the most personal and highly technical targeting campaigns in the history of warfare.' The campaign continued after IDF Chief of Staff Zamir confirmed on May 16, 2026 the elimination of Izz al-Din al-Haddad — the last senior October 7 architect known to remain alive in Gaza, head of Hamas's military wing. Former hostages personally held by al-Haddad — Omri Miran, Liri Albag, Emily Damari — described 'closure.' The NILI campaign continues through the active Phase One ceasefire (October 10, 2025–present), representing Israel's asymmetric accountability effort operating in parallel to the stalled diplomatic accountability process. Critics, including international human rights organizations and some bereaved families, maintain that targeted eliminations cannot substitute for a full independent commission examining Israeli government and intelligence failures.