Israel kills senior Hamas commander in Gaza two months after killing his predecessor as ceasefire stagnates

Israel killed a senior Hamas commander involved in planning the October 7 attacks only two months after killing his predecessor, a fresh sign of how the Gaza conflict remains active despite a US-brokered ceasefire being in place. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed Samir Mahmoud Abu Younis, the commander of Hamas’ Rafah Brigade, in a strike in southern Gaza overnight Saturday, both Hamas and the IDF said. Abu Younis, who was a long-time member of the brigade, had replaced Nael Abu Obeid, the previous commander who was killed in a strike in September.

And Abu Obeid himself replaced Mohammad Sabaneh, another commander of the Rafah Brigade who was killed in May 2025. The strike comes just days after an Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in what the IDF said was an attempt to kill another Hamas commander. In a statement, Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, acknowledged the death of Abu Younis, saying he had joined the brigade 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,” said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. “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.” The killing of Abu Younis underscores an emerging pattern in Gaza. Despite a nominal ceasefire that went into effect more than one year ago, Israel has continued to carry out strikes targeting members of Hamas, particularly senior commanders.

But those commanders are quickly replaced as Hamas entrenches its own grip on power over the half of Gaza not occupied by Israel. Meanwhile, the Board of Peace, a body created by the Trump administration with United Nations backing to oversee the Gaza ceasefire plan, remains sidelined, unable to make any substantive progress on the 20-point plan agreed to in October 2025. On Friday, the board said it had held “very constructive discussions” with 17 countries about a civilian Gaza police force under the authority of a Palestinian technocratic committee that was supposed to run Gaza.

But that committee has yet to enter the enclave, and an international security force meant to stabilize Gaza has yet to materialize. The IDF strike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza last week killed at least six people, including a doctor and a child, according to Palestinian officials. The strike hit the hospital’s surgery unit, killing Dr. Rizk Abu Shaira and a 13-year-old boy who was awaiting surgery. A total of 40 others were injured in the strike, including two doctors who were in critical condition, officials said.

In a statement, the IDF said it had targeted the commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade, Muhammad Abu Ismail, as well as “additional terrorists who were hiding inside the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.” But when pressed on whether Abu Ismail was killed in the strike, the IDF did not answer. Doctors Without Borders (Médicins Sans Frontières, or MSF) condemned the strike, saying: “It is unconscionable that patients and medical staff are once again being killed and injured inside a hospital, a place where lives should be saved, not taken.”

MSF withdrew its own staff from the hospital in January because of the presence of armed men inside, as well as concerns over the hospital’s neutrality and management. “Under international humanitarian law, hospitals must be respected and protected,” MSF said. The Board of Peace also urged both Israel and Hamas to uphold their commitments under the Comprehensive Peace Plan and protect civilians. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 1,600 people have been killed in near-daily Israeli strikes in Gaza since the ceasefire was signed one year ago.

The shattered territory also faces an unfolding humanitarian crisis ahead of the onset of winter. Last week, seasonal rains swamped tens of thousands of tents across Gaza, where nearly two million Palestinians remain displaced. Israel said that more than 91,000 tents had entered Gaza ahead of winter, but it has refused to allow in the heavy equipment needed for large-scale clean-up and rubble removal efforts. “The reconstruction of Gaza can only begin after Hamas fully disarms,” said Israel’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories.