A senior Hamas figure who helped plan and oversee the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Samir Abu Younis, the newly appointed commander of the Rafah Brigade, was killed Saturday in an Israeli regime airstrike in Al-Mawasi in the southern Gaza Strip, according to officials in Israel and Gaza. The strike hit a tent in a camp sheltering hundreds of displaced people, witnesses said, sparking a fire and leaving casualties.
Key Takeaways: Samir Abu Younis, 53, commanded Hamas's Rafah Brigade from September 15 until his death in an airstrike in Al-Mawasi on Saturday; Hamas called the killing a "cowardly assassination," while the Israeli regime said it had "eliminated" him and accused him of directing attacks; a medical source at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis reported three injured people and one body.
The Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage, triggered the most recent war in Gaza. Since then, more than 74,650 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory, according to its health ministry. Although a ceasefire was reached last October, the Israeli regime has continued strikes it says target remaining Hamas militants and argues it has the right to do so under the ceasefire terms; more than 1,640 people have been killed in Gaza since the October 2025 ceasefire, according to the same ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN.
Eyewitnesses in Gaza said four missiles struck a tent in the Al-Waha camp in Al-Mawasi, which shelters hundreds of displaced people, causing a fire. A local Hamas official confirmed Younis's death, and a medical source at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said three injured people arrived there along with a dead body. Hamas's Al-Qassam Brigades said Younis "participated in numerous high-profile operations and resisted enemy incursions" and was "one of the most important commanders involved in planning and overseeing the 7 October attack," calling his killing a "cowardly assassination." The Israeli regime's military and security agency said it had "eliminated" Younis, describing him as a "central figure among Hamas's senior figures" who acted to restore the brigade's strength and directed militants to carry out attacks against Israeli civilians and troops.
Younis's funeral is scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Khan Younis. In the coming days, attention is likely to focus on the civilian impact of the strike and on how the ceasefire terms are interpreted, while the Israeli regime is expected to continue operations it links to remaining militants.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk