Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

IDF: Hamas financier killed in Gaza strike that eliminated Ra’ad Sa’ad

Abdel Hay Zoqout was responsible for raising and moving millions of dollars for the group, according to the military.

People gather around a destroyed vehicle and rubble after an Israeli airstrike on Al-Rashid Street in Gaza City, Gaza, on Dec. 13, 2025. Photo by Abood Abusalama / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images.
People gather around a destroyed vehicle and rubble after an Israeli airstrike on Al-Rashid Street in Gaza City, Gaza, on Dec. 13, 2025. Photo by Abood Abusalama / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that Hamas terrorist Abdel Hay Zoqout was killed in the airstrike in Gaza City two weeks ago that eliminated top Hamas commander Ra’ad Sa’ad.

According to IDF Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee, Zoqout was responsible for raising and transferring tens of millions of dollars to Hamas’s military wing over the past year. He was killed in a joint Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) operation while traveling in a vehicle with Sa’ad.

Adraee said Israeli forces would continue targeting Hamas’s financial networks and any entities involved in funding or supporting attacks against Israel.

The IDF and Shin Bet announced on Dec. 13 the targeted killing of Sa’ad, saying he was a “leading figure in the leadership of Hamas’s military wing in recent months and was directly responsible for violations of the ceasefire agreement by the Hamas terrorist organization.”

He was one of the architects of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, invasion and massacre in the northwestern Negev, the IDF and Shin Bet added.

See more from JNS Staff
Nate Lebowitz called a recent fundraising appeal “a knife plunged into my heart” as Jewish students have described “hostility and isolation” on campus since Oct. 7.
Prosecutors said Israel Enden knew that the man concealed under luggage in the back of his car lacked authorization to enter the United States.
“Four will be released immediately, and four will be sentenced to one month in prison,” the U.S. president stated.
A university spokesman told JNS that “the condemnation of such a peaceful event to share a story of resilience in the face of extreme suffering is antithetical to the values of our Bruin community.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stated that police are working not only to hold the people involved accountable but also “ensure that this isn’t something that is becoming normal in our city.”
“Judea and Samaria are central to Jewish history and faith,” stated David Livingston, a Republican state representative. “This resolution affirms what is true and rejects language created to deny it.”