Israeli strike kills Hamas Rafah brigade commander in Gaza

Hamas has confirmed that Samir Abu Younis, the commander of its Rafah brigade, was killed in an Israeli air strike in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. Israel's military and Shin Bet, the country's domestic security agency, said in a joint statement that they had targeted a senior Hamas military commander in a drone strike in Khan Younis on Saturday.

The two sides describe the attack in slightly different terms. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, referred to an air strike, while the Israeli statement described a drone strike. According to Al Jazeera, the strike hit a tent sheltering displaced people and wounded two others. Casualties were taken to Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.

The attack is one of a series of deadly incidents reported in Gaza in recent days. Gaza's Ministry of Health said on Saturday that Israeli attacks had killed 16 people and injured 68 others over the previous 48 hours.

The ceasefire, an agreement to halt fighting, took effect on 11 October 2025. Since then, the ministry says, Israeli fire has killed at least 1,643 Palestinians and injured 5,964. Since October 2023, when the war began, the ministry reports at least 74,695 people killed and 176,093 injured in Gaza.

The ministry also reported that cold-related deaths have risen to 11, after a nine-month-old baby died from hypothermia, a dangerous drop in body temperature caused by cold exposure.