Israeli military says it struck senior commander in Hamas' military wing
Hamas said Samir Abu Younis, 53, was killed in an airstrike and had helped plan the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
- On Saturday, the IDF and Israel Security Agency struck a senior Hamas terrorist in the Gaza Strip, with Defense Minister Israel Katz indicating shortly after that the target had been killed.
- Hamas sources identified the deceased as Samir Abu Younis, commander of the Rafah brigade in Hamas' armed wing. Medics reported the strike targeted him in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
- Despite the Defense Minister's statement, the military had not yet formally confirmed the death. Katz wrote, "IDF continues to eliminate Hamas leaders in Gaza," adding, "And another one joins his predecessors in the depths of hell."
- The operation occurred despite an October 2025 ceasefire that halted major fighting but failed to stop Israeli attacks. The agreement has not secured Hamas' disarmament.
- Gaza health authorities report that at least 1,600 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire went into effect. This toll underscores the persistent violence despite the agreement.
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The Shahid Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), claimed the martyrdom of Commander Samir Mahmoud Abu Younis, alias "Abu Mahmoud," a member of the General Military Council of the Brigades and Commander of the Rafah Brigade in the southern Gaza Strip.
Israel said that it had beaten an Ezzedine Al-Qassam brigade official without naming him, but the military branch of the Palestinian Islamist movement confirmed the death of Samir Abu Younis.
A high-ranking Hamas commander, who helped plan and oversee the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
The Israeli army had already reported that an attack had been carried out on a high-ranking commander of the military wing of Hamas. The army did not mention a name in the report.
Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced that the commander of the Rafah Brigades, Samir Mahmoud Abu Younis, was killed.
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