Israeli army: two men moving Islamic Republic money to Hamas killed

The Israeli army announced on Sunday 25 October 2026 that in air strikes in the Gaza Strip last week it killed two men who, it says, transferred millions of shekels from the Islamic Republic and Turkey to Hamas's military wing. According to the Israeli army, the money was used to rebuild Hamas's military capabilities and to prepare attacks on Israeli forces and civilians.

The Israeli army named the two as Alaa Ibrahim Nimr Arshi and Karam Riyad Hassan Abu Batihan. According to the army, Arshi, a squad commander in Hamas's military wing, was killed on 21 October in Gaza City, and Abu Batihan, a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, on 20 October in Nuseirat. The Israeli army did not give the exact amount of money transferred, and the Islamic Republic, Turkey, Hamas and Islamic Jihad had not responded to the claim at the time of publication. No independent source has confirmed the identity of the two men either.

The Islamic Republic's financial network for Hamas

This is not the first time Israel has exposed the Islamic Republic's role in financing Hamas. In late 2025 (Azar 1404), the Israeli army and Israel's internal security agency unveiled a Hamas money-exchange network in Turkey and said that, directed by the Islamic Republic, it had delivered hundreds of millions of dollars to armed groups in Gaza. Hamas denies any plan to attack or rebuild its arsenal and accuses Israel of undermining the ceasefire agreement.

Iranians' money serving proxy groups

The claim comes at a time when Iran's economy is under the pressure of a naval blockade and halted oil exports, and the Islamic Republic's own officials speak of part of the population being unable to afford basic needs. The Islamic Republic's proxy network, from the Iraqi militias that had received Chinese air defence systems to the Houthis who are threatening Riyadh, continues to be fed from the country's resources. Earlier reports had also pointed to the presence of the same proxy forces in the crackdown on the Dey uprising.

According to the Israeli army, the Islamic Republic's money kept reaching Hamas's military wing even during the Gaza ceasefire.