Hamas commander Samir Abu Younis killed in Israeli strike on Khan Younis

Hamas’s armed wing says its senior commander Samir Abu Younis was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza. Israel’s military confirmed it had struck a senior Hamas commander but did not name him; the reported killing matters amid a ceasefire that has not ended Israeli attacks.

Medics said Abu Younis was killed and others wounded in a strike on a street in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis on Saturday. Hamas identified the 53-year-old as commander of its Rafah brigade and said he had joined its armed wing in 1991 and helped plan and oversee the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel. Gaza health authorities say at least 1,600 Palestinians have been killed since the October 2025 ceasefire began, alongside five Israeli soldiers; they report more than 74,000 Palestinian deaths since the war began.