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IDF slays two Hamas financiers in Gaza

The two were identified as Hamas cell commander Alaa Ibrahim Nimer Arshi and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist Karam Riyad Hassan Abu Butaihan.

Israel Defense Forces troops from the 2nd Brigade operating along the Yellow Line in the Gaza Strip, December 2025. Credit: IDF.
Israel Defense Forces troops operating along the Yellow Line in the Gaza Strip, December 2025. Credit: IDF.

The Israel Defense Forces eliminated two terrorists in Gaza last week who helped move millions of shekels from Iran and Turkey to Hamas, the IDF and Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) said on Sunday.

Alaa Ibrahim Nimer Arshi, a Hamas cell commander, was killed in a strike in the Gaza City area on Wednesday, while Karam Riyad Hassan Abu Butaihan, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist involved in transferring funds to Hamas, was killed in in the Nuseirat area on Tuesday, according to the statement.

“These funds were recently used to support Hamas’s efforts to rebuild its military capabilities and plan terrorist attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians, constituting a systematic violation of the ceasefire,” it said.

On Thursday, the IDF and Shin Bet also destroyed a Hamas weapons storage facility in an airstrike in central Gaza. It held Kalashnikov rifles, a launcher and rockets, the military said.

The IDF said it issued advance warnings to nearby noncombatants, and used precision munitions and aerial surveillance.

In a separate statement, the IDF said troops killed two terrorists who crossed the Yellow Line in two incidents in the northern and southern Gaza Strip on Friday.

Israeli forces remain deployed under Southern Command in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to act against immediate threats, the military said.

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