The Israeli Armed Forces have announced this Sunday the death of Samir Mahmud Hasán Abú Yunis, 53 years old, the top head of the Rafá Brigade of the militias of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas. The Palestinian command has been killed just two months after he died in another targeted attack on his predecessor in the position, Naal Abú Abid, on September 15.
According to the Israeli Army version, the airstrike took place shortly after midnight, when Abú Yunis was walking down a street in Mauasi, in Jan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip. For its part, Hamas denounces a bombardment of “explosive drones” against an area of tents where internally displaced people are housed.
In an official statement, Israeli forces emphasize that Abú Yunis “has held several posts in the brigade, including those of deputy commander and commander of the Tel Sulta Battalion. Samir Abú Yunis was a key figure among the senior leadership of Hamas”.
The Army details that among his responsibilities was the rebuilding of the armed structure and the direction of the fighters “to prepare and carry out terrorist plots against citizens of the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces.” The Israeli Armed Forces affirm that they exercise total control over the Rafá area by virtue of the ceasefire line agreed in October 2025, although Hamas would retain its operational networks and, in particular, the Rafá Brigade would have pulled back toward the neighboring Jan Yunis.
Hamas has confirmed the death of Abú Yunis, also known as “Abú Mahmud,” and has stressed that he was a veteran leader of the Ezzeldín al Qassam Brigades, which he joined in 1991. In addition, it identifies him as one of the “key commanders for the planning and oversight of the October 7 attack” of 2023, in which about 1,200 Israelis died.
The Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, condemn the “cowardly assassination” of Abú Yunis and highlight that he belonged to the militia’s first generation and that he came to be imprisoned in Israeli prisons.