Israeli strike kills Hamas Rafah Brigade commander
Shafaq News- Gaza
Israel killed Samir Mahmoud Abu Younis, commander of Hamas’ Rafah Brigade, in a strike in southern Gaza, two months after his predecessor, Nael Abu Obeid, was killed, the Israeli military said on Sunday.
The strike comes days after an Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which Israel described as an attempt to kill another Hamas commander.
من محمد شبانة إلى نائل أبو عبيد، وصولًا إلى سمير أبو يونس… الأسماء تتغيّر، والمصير يتكرّر. يبدو أن أصعب مهمة في لواء رفح لم تعد قيادة اللواء، بل العثور على قائد يبقى في منصبه! ثلاثة أسماء شُطبت…والسؤال الآن: من سيُكتب اسمه على الباب بعدهم؟ أما نصيحتي! فليبقى الباب مغلقًا وفتشوا على طريق آخر يخدم مصلحة أهل غزة
— Lieutenant Colonel Ella Waweya | إيلا واوية (@CaptainElla1) November 15, 2026
In a statement, Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed Abu Younis’ death, noting that he joined the group in 1991 and was “among the most prominent commanders who participated in planning and overseeing” the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
“The IDF continues to eliminate Hamas leaders in Gaza, and another one joins his predecessors in the depths of hell,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X. “The offensive policy that I am leading together with the Prime Minister and the IDF in Gaza will continue – until Gaza is demilitarized and there is no Hamas.”
לא ינום ולא יישן שומר ישראל. צה"ל ממשיך לסכל את ראשי החמאס בעזה, ועוד אחד מצטרף לקודמיו במעמקי הגיהנום. המדיניות ההתקפית אותה אני מוביל יחד עם רה"מ וצה"ל בעזה תימשך - עד שעזה תפורז ולא יהיה חמאס.
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) November 14, 2026
Israeli strikes across Gaza have continued despite a ceasefire agreement reached in October last year. Earlier today, an Israeli drone strike killed two Palestinians walking along a street in Jabaliya, on the northern outskirts of Gaza City, Mohamed Abu Selmiya, director of Shifa Hospital, told local media. Several others were wounded, but he did not provide a casualty figure.
At least three more Palestinians were also killed in a separate strike targeting a tent sheltering displaced people in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City.
Further south, Israeli artillery shelled areas south of Khan Younis. Eyewitnesses reported that four missiles struck Al-Waha camp in central Gaza, which shelters hundreds of displaced people, sparking a fire. No casualties were recorded in either attack.
According to the territory’s Health Ministry, more than 1,647 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect, bringing the overall death toll since the war began on October 7, 2023, to 74,699. Another 176,098 people have been wounded.
