Israel has killed Samir Abu Younis, the newly appointed commander of Hamas’s Rafah Brigade, in an airstrike on a displacement camp in southern Gaza, Israeli and Palestinian officials have confirmed.
Younis, 53, was killed on Saturday when Israeli missiles struck the Al-Waha camp in Al-Mawasi, an area sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians. Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said he was among the senior commanders involved in planning and overseeing the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The Israeli military and Israel’s security agency, the ISA, confirmed the operation in a joint statement published on Telegram, saying they had “eliminated” Younis.
The Israeli authorities described him as a “central figure among Hamas’s senior figures”, adding that he had “acted with the aim of trying to restore the strength of the brigade and the Hamas terrorist organisation”.
The statement further claimed: “Younis directed the brigade’s terrorists to advance and carry out terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops.”
According to eyewitness accounts, four missiles hit a tent at the Al-Waha camp, triggering a fire. The attack also left casualties, with a medical source at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis confirming that three injured people and one body were brought to the facility.
The Israeli military said it had taken measures to limit civilian casualties before carrying out the operation, stating that prior to the strike “steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians”.
Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades also announced Younis’s death, describing him as “one of the most important commanders involved in planning and overseeing the 7 October attack”.
The group said he had “participated in numerous high-profile operations and resisted enemy incursions”, before describing his killing as a “cowardly assassination”.
Younis assumed command of the Rafah Brigade on September 15 following the death of his predecessor, Nael Abu Obeid. He joined Hamas’s armed wing in 1991 and subsequently occupied several senior operational positions before his appointment as brigade commander.
Hamas said his funeral would take place on Sunday afternoon in Khan Younis.
His death comes amid continuing Israeli military operations in Gaza despite a ceasefire agreement reached last October. Israel has maintained that its occasional strikes are directed at remaining Hamas militants and are permitted under the terms of the agreement.
The war began after Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage.
Since the outbreak of the conflict, more than 74,650 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian territory’s health ministry.
-BBC News