Israel says it killed Hamas financial officer in Gaza

JERUSALEM – The Israeli army said on Dec 24 that it had identified a Hamas financial official it killed two weeks ago in a strike in the Gaza Strip.

Abdel Hay Zaqut, a financial official in Hamas’ armed wing, was killed on Dec 13 in the same strike that killed military commander Raed Saad, seen by Israel as one of the architects of Hamas’ Oct 7
, 2023, attack.

The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said Zaqut was killed while he was in a vehicle alongside Raed Saad in “a joint operation by the Israeli army and the Shin Bet”, Israel’s internal security agency.

He “belonged to the financial department of the armed wing” of Hamas, Mr Adraee wrote on social media plartform X.

“Over the past year, Zaqut was responsible for collecting and transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas’ armed wing with the aim of continuing the fight against the state of Israel,” he said.

Hamas’ leader for the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya, confirmed on Dec 14 Saad’s death and “his companions”, though he did not name Zaqut.

The Israeli army said Saad headed the weapons production headquarters of Hamas’ military wing and oversaw the group’s build-up of capabilities.

Since Oct 10, a fragile truce has been in force in the Gaza Strip, although Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violations.

The war began with Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed more than 70,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory, a figure the UN deems is credible. AFP