Hamas has confirmed that Rafah brigade commander Samir Abu Younis was killed in an Israeli air strike on the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Israel’s military and Shin Bet security agency earlier said in a joint statement that they had targeted a senior Hamas military commander in a drone strike in Khan Younis on Saturday.
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The attack that hit a tent sheltering displaced people wounded two others.
The casualties were taken to Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, medical personnel told Al Jazeera on Saturday.
Video footage verified by Al Jazeera and posted by Palestinian journalists from the vicinity of the hospital showed ambulances inside the grounds and stretchers that appear to be stained with blood.
Al-Mawasi, a coastal strip on the Mediterranean, is crowded with displaced Palestinians living in tents. Israel has repeatedly attacked the area despite previously designating it a humanitarian zone.
Latest toll
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said in its latest update on Saturday that Israeli attacks have killed 16 people and injured 68 others over the past 48 hours.
Since the “ceasefire” in Gaza took effect on October 11, 2025, Israel has killed at least 1,643 Palestinians and injured 5,964. At least 850 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble.
Since Israel began its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, at least 74,695 people have been killed and 176,093 injured, according to the Health Ministry.
The ministry also reported that the number of deaths related to cold has risen to 11 after a nine-month-old baby died from hypothermia, the first this winter.
Gaza’s residents, most of whom have been displaced, are living in tents and damaged buildings as water damage from recent heavy rains has set in.
Israeli attacks have escalated across Gaza, despite the October ceasefire.
