An Israeli air strike in southern Gaza on Saturday killed Samir Abu Younis, commander of the Hamas Rafah brigade. Hamas confirmed his death early on Sunday. The strike hit the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, a coastal strip crowded with displaced Palestinians living in tents.
Israel's military and the Shin Bet security agency said in a joint statement that they had targeted a senior Hamas military commander. They said the drone strike took place in Khan Younis, Al Jazeera reported. According to BBC Swahili, the statement did not name him at first. The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, later named him as Samir Mahmoud Abu Younis, also known as Abu Mahmoud.
According to the Qassam Brigades, Abu Younis sat on the group's top military council and led the Rafah brigade. He joined the brigades in 1991 as one of their first members. BBC Swahili reported that he helped plan and oversee the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Gaza Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bissal told AFP that rescuers had recovered the body of Abu Younis, who was 53. He said two other people were wounded. Al Jazeera reported that the strike hit a tent sheltering displaced people. Hospital sources quoted by BBC Swahili said it happened on a road in al-Mawasi. Medical staff told Al Jazeera the wounded were taken to Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.
Israel struck the same hospital on Thursday. That strike killed at least six Palestinians and wounded more than 20, including children and medical staff, Xinhua reported via Capital FM. On Saturday, 18 Arab and Islamic countries jointly condemned it. The Arab League called it a serious violation of international humanitarian law. It urged the UN Security Council to take "effective and urgent measures" to make Israel halt its attacks. It also called for all limits on aid entering Gaza to be lifted.
Gaza's Ministry of Health said Israeli attacks had killed 16 people and injured 68 in the past 48 hours. The ministry says at least 1,643 Palestinians have been killed and 5,964 injured since the ceasefire took effect on October 11, 2025. It puts the total at 74,695 killed and 176,093 injured since October 2023. The ministry also said cold-related deaths have risen to 11 after a nine-month-old baby died of hypothermia. It was the first such death this winter.