Overview
- The Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency announced that Muhammad Yazouri, whom they identified as commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, was killed in a precision airstrike Thursday night along with two other brigade members.
- Israeli security agencies separately confirmed the elimination of senior operative Farah Hamed in central Gaza and of Ismail Kandil, a Nukhba member linked by Israel to the Oct. 7 killing of Col. Yonatan Steinberg, in actions carried out earlier this week.
- Israeli statements tie the recent strikes to efforts to stop Hamas from rebuilding fighting capacity and to hold individuals accused of taking part in Oct. 7 and earlier West Bank attacks to account, noting some suspects were freed in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.
- The military said it used precision munitions and aerial surveillance to limit civilian harm, while Hamas and the Qassam Brigades condemned the strikes and local reports and hospitals record civilian casualties and damage.
- The operations took place under the U.S.-backed October 2025 ceasefire framework that keeps Israeli troops deployed in Gaza, a posture that officials say allows targeted actions but that critics warn could further strain ceasefire verification and raise tensions on the ground.