IDF kills Hamas Rafah Brigade commander in Gaza strike

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

The attack struck a tent sheltering displaced people and wounded two others, according to medical personnel at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis where casualties were taken. Video footage verified by Al Jazeera and posted by Palestinian journalists showed ambulances inside the hospital grounds along with stretchers that appeared stained with blood. Al-Mawasi is a crowded coastal strip on the Mediterranean where displaced Palestinians live in tents, and Israel has repeatedly attacked the area despite previously designating it a humanitarian zone.

Gaza's Ministry of Health reported in an update on Saturday that Israeli attacks have killed 16 people and injured 68 others over the past 48 hours. The ministry states that since a ceasefire took effect on October 11, 2025, Israel has killed at least 1,643 Palestinians and injured 5,964, with at least 850 bodies recovered from the rubble. Since the war began in October 2023, the Health Ministry reports that at least 74,695 people have been killed and 176,093 injured.

Additionally, the Health Ministry reported that cold-related deaths have risen to 11 after a nine-month-old baby died from hypothermia, marking the first such death this winter. Most Gaza residents remain displaced, living in tents and damaged buildings while dealing with water damage from recent heavy rains.