Israeli Army Reports the Killing of Hamas' 'Economy Minister' in Gaza

The Israeli army announced that it targeted the Hamas economy minister in an airstrike on Sunday in the Gaza Strip. According to the Israeli army, Abdul Fattah Al-Zura'i was a key figure in the production sector of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, and was primarily responsible for managing financial markets under the control of the extremist group Hamas, which 'operated through information exchange with other terrorist organizations across the Middle East to enhance Hamas' weapon capabilities.' Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. The statement further identified Al-Zura'i as responsible for 'distributing fuel, gas, and allocating budgets for terrorist operations.' According to Israel's Channel 14, intelligence gathered by the military intelligence and the Southern Command of the Israeli army regarding Al-Zura'i's hideout contributed to the operation that killed him. The Palestinian Information Center, the media wing of the extremist group Hamas, announced on Sunday, August 5, that Al-Zura'i was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza. The Israeli army confirmed the death of the Hamas military wing commander. Abdul Fattah Al-Zura'i is the latest Hamas official to be killed in a series of targeted Israeli attacks against the group. Last Wednesday, the Israeli army confirmed that it had gathered definitive evidence indicating that in an Israeli airstrike on July 13 in Khan Younis, it killed Mohammed Deif, the commander of Hamas' military wing and one of the three main architects of the group's surprise attack on Israeli territory last October. Since the beginning of the war between the Israeli army and Hamas, Marwan Issa, Raef Salameh, and several other internal Hamas figures have been killed in Israeli operations in Gaza. In a series of attacks attributed to Israel in Lebanon and other parts of the region, Saleh al-Arouri and Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas' political bureau, were also killed. Among the main internal Hamas figures who designed the October 15 attacks on Israel, only Yahya Sinwar and his brother, Mohammed Sinwar, remain. It is estimated that the Sinwars are hiding in the deepest tunnels of Gaza, sheltered by the remaining live Israeli hostages. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that in Israeli airstrikes on Sunday, 16 more Palestinians were killed, bringing the total death toll (without distinguishing between militants) to 39,583.