Hamas has confirmed that one of its senior military commanders was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Gaza, in the latest blow to a ceasefire that has been fraying since it took effect more than a year ago.
Samir Abu Younis, 53, commander of the group’s Rafah Brigade, was killed on Saturday in a drone strike on the al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis, according to Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades. Israel’s military and the Shin Bet security agency said in a joint statement in the early hours of Sunday that they had struck a senior member of Hamas’s military wing, without naming him at first.
The strike hit a tent sheltering displaced people, medical personnel told Al Jazeera. Two other people were wounded and taken to the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. Al-Mawasi, a coastal strip on the Mediterranean, is crowded with displaced Palestinians living in makeshift tents, many of whom fled there after being told it was a safer area.
Abu Younis had held the Rafah command for only about two months. He took over on 15 September after his predecessor, Nael Abu Obeid, was killed, according to Israel’s military. Hamas said he joined the al-Qassam Brigades in 1991 and rose through a series of senior operational posts in Rafah. The group said he played a key role in planning the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, a claim that comes from Hamas itself and has not been independently verified.
The Israeli military said Abu Younis had directed attacks against Israeli civilians and troops and had been working to rebuild the Rafah Brigade’s fighting capabilities. Hamas said his funeral would be held on Sunday afternoon in Khan Younis.
The killing comes amid a steady drumbeat of violence despite the ceasefire that took effect on 11 October 2025. Gaza’s health ministry said Israeli attacks had killed 16 people and wounded 68 others in the 48 hours before Saturday’s update, and that at least 1,643 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire began, with nearly 6,000 injured. Both sides accuse each other of breaking the truce, and Israeli strikes on Gaza have continued throughout the ceasefire period.
The strike also underlines how exposed Gaza’s displaced population remains. More than a year into the ceasefire, hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tents, and the camps that shelter them have repeatedly been hit. With winter approaching, aid agencies have warned that the tents offer little protection from rain and cold, and the latest casualty figures suggest the fighting, for those on the ground, has never really stopped.
Sources: Reuters — https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-military-says-it-struck-senior-commander-hamas-military-wing-2026-11-14/ ; BBC News — https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqrkg4r6mg7xo ; Al Jazeera — https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/15/israeli-air-strike-kills-senior-hamas-commander-in-gaza
