RAMALLAH — Israel has stepped up its offensive against suspected financiers of Hamas.

The company was identified as Beit Amal, a finance company that owns a mall in Nablus. The Israeli military closed the mall in July amid charges that the facility was being used to launder money for Hamas.

Israeli security sources said the military was ordered by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to crack down on suspected Hamas financiers in the West Bank. The sources said Hamas was creating a separate social welfare and educational network meant to rival that of the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas financiers were said to have participated in attacks on Israel. On July 10, Mahmoud Othman Mahmoud Azi was killed in a clash with Israeli troops in the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan. Azi was said to have relayed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Hamas through the Islamic Charity Foundation.

The sources said Azi had led a Hamas operational cell in the northern West Bank. On July 7, Azi was said to have shot and injured an Israeli civilian outside the Jewish community of Yakir.

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