TEHRAN — Hamas confirmed on Sunday that Samir Abu Younis, commander of the al-Qassam Brigades’ Rafah Brigade, was killed in an Israeli drone strike on a tent in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis. He was martyred in a coastal strip where displaced families have lived in tents for months, more than a year into a ceasefire that Israel treats as optional.
The al-Qassam Brigades described Abu Younis, known as Abu Mahmoud, as a member of their general military council who joined in 1991, served time in Israeli prisons, fought through the Second Intifada, and rose from the Western Battalion to lead Rafah, succeeding Nael Abu Obeid.
They said he helped plan and supervise Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023. Calling the killing a cowardly assassination, the group promised that “the blood will not be lost and resolve will not weaken.”
The strike also wounded two people, who were taken to Nasser Medical Complex, medical staff told Al Jazeera. Footage shows ambulances inside the hospital grounds and stretchers stained with blood.
Israel once designated al-Mawasi a “humanitarian zone” and pushed civilians toward it. It has bombed the area repeatedly since.
The numbers show how little the U.S.-backed “ceasefire” has meant.