The assassination earlier today in Gaza of Ihab Racin, who is defined as "senior" in Hamas, raises an interesting point.

For the majority of the public in Israel, Racin's name does not mean much, but his elimination is part of the systematic elimination operations that Israel is carrying out against senior officials in the Hamas government in Gaza, according to Palestinian sources. 

According to them, the elimination of senior government officials who served in the Gaza government is intended to prevent Hamas from being rehabilitated in the future in the civil administration of the Strip as much as possible.

During the nine months of the war, Israel announced the elimination (and arrests) of senior figures in the "civilian" system of the government in Gaza, especially in the police and security agencies.

According to the Palestinians, the rate of elimination of those elements is accelerating in recent weeks.