JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency announced Friday that they killed Terrorist Muhammad Yazouri, commander of Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade, in a precision airstrike in the Khan Younis area of the Gaza Strip on Thursday night.

Yazouri had previously served as deputy commander of the brigade, commander of its combat support battalion, and head of its intelligence department before taking overall command, according to the joint IDF-ISA statement.

The military said Yazouri directed the brigade’s operatives and planned attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. In recent months, it added, he worked to advance dozens of attacks on IDF troops and to rebuild the brigade’s capabilities after heavy losses during the war.

The same strike also killed Terrorist Hudheifa Muammar, described as a company commander, and Muhammad Bahjat Rashi, another member of Hamas’s military wing in the Khan Younis Brigade.

The IDF said forces took steps before the strike to reduce the risk to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance.

Troops under the Southern Command remain in the area in line with the existing agreement and will continue to act against immediate threats, the statement said.

Independent confirmation of the deaths from Hamas was not immediately available. Arab media reported that the strike occurred in the Hamad neighborhood north of Khan Younis and that a residential building later caught fire.

The announcement is part of a series of Israeli operations targeting Hamas commanders in southern Gaza while troops remain deployed under the terms of the ceasefire framework.