Israel continues to conduct an extensive campaign to locate and eliminate Palestinian terrorists involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, analysts told Fox News Digital, describing the policy as a decades-old doctrine aimed at both deterrence and retribution.

Last month, the Israel Defense Forces announced the elimination of Hasan Mahmoud Hasan Hussein, who on Oct. 7 led the brutal attack on a bomb shelter on Route 232 in Kibbutz Re’im, where 16 people were brutally murdered in the assault. Four others were taken hostage to Gaza, including Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was later killed in captivity.

The IDF also confirmed the deaths of Yousef Mahmoud Muhammad Juma’a, head of the Hamas cell that raided Kibbutz Alumim; Mahmoud Afana, who infamously boasted to his parents about murdering 10 Jews during the terror invasion; and Mohammed Hassan Mohammed Awad who held slain hostages Shiri Bibas and her two children, Kfir and Ariel and was implicated in their murders, and also the deaths of American citizens Gad Haggai and Judy Weistein.

“You would need two sources to verify the position of a terrorist and then also make sure that he is isolated enough so that there is no danger to civilians. Once you manage to find the best operational conditions, then you choose the method of attack,” he added.

Avivi said that gathering information on Hamas terrorists and the organization’s structure has been an ongoing effort for years, including mapping platoons, companies, and battalions, as well as identifying commanders. Prior to the Oct. 7 attacks, Israeli security forces already possessed extensive intelligence on many of the terrorists involved, including drawing on satellite images and intercepted communications.

An Israel Defense Forces infographic shows key Hamas terrorists involved in planning the Oct. 7 attacks who have since been killed by Israel. (IDF)

Brig. Gen. (Res.) Nitzan Nuriel, former director of the Counter-Terrorism Bureau at the Prime Minister’s Office (2007–2012), told Fox News Digital that Israel had captured large volumes of Hamas data, including gigabytes of clips, pictures and documents, which helped analysts piece together critical intelligence.

While the Oct. 7 massacre involved far more perpetrators than typical terror attacks in Israel–with some 6,000 storming the border that day— Nuriel said the methods for tracking them remain the same; the larger scale, however, means the process will take longer.

“I believe one of the reasons Hamas will be willing to accept President Trump’s peace plan is because it allows many of them to stay out of Israel’s long-reaching arms,” he continued. “If they agree to the entire proposal, some of them will survive.”