IDF says it killed two Hamas commanders, one who trained operatives before Oct 7

Update, 15 September, 14:08 Israel time

The IDF has published its own English-language account of the two killings, which places each man in a different location. In a post on X, the military said Rafat Abu Zamar was killed in Khan Younis and that the second man, whose name it transliterates as Muhammad Khader Fahmi Aghour, was killed in Gaza. The post repeats the description of Aghour as involved in producing weapons for Hamas, and of Abu Zamar as a company commander in the Hamas operations headquarters who led training before the October 7 Massacre and more recently worked on the group's combat capabilities.

The English wording aligns the military's public account with the News.co.il version rather than with N12's report that both men were killed in Khan Younis. The IDF post describes the two as having posed an immediate threat and as having advanced attacks, but does not give a time for either strike, does not say whether the two strikes were linked, and gives no casualty information beyond the two named men.

The spelling of the second man's name differs between the Israeli military's English post and the Hebrew-language Israeli coverage, a common feature of transliteration from Arabic. No response from Hamas or from health authorities in Gaza has been reported, and the identification of both men still rests on the Israeli military's account alone.

The story as first reported

The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out strikes that killed two Hamas commanders, naming one of them as Rafat Abu Zamar, described as a company commander in the Hamas operations headquarters. In a statement issued by the IDF spokesperson, the military said the strike took place the previous day, a Monday, in the Khan Younis area, and that Abu Zamar had led and advanced training for Hamas operatives ahead of the October 7th Massacre and had more recently continued training operatives and developing the group's combat capabilities.

A second man was named by Israeli media as Mohammed Khader Fahmi Ajour, described as an operative involved in weapons production. According to News.co.il, the two men were working to rebuild the organisation's capabilities and were advancing attack plans against Israeli forces in breach of the ceasefire agreement. The IDF statement said steps were taken before and during the strikes to reduce harm to civilians as far as possible, including the use of precision munitions and aerial surveillance.

Where the accounts differ on location

The reports do not fully agree on where the second man was killed. The IDF spokesperson's statement refers to an additional strike in Gaza, and News.co.il reported that Ajour was killed in Gaza City, while Abu Zamar was killed in Khan Younis. N12, in a post credited to reporter Nitzan Shapira, described both commanders as having been killed in Khan Younis. We are noting the discrepancy rather than choosing between the versions; neither account has been independently confirmed by us.

What and where Khan Younis is

Khan Younis is one of the main urban centres of the southern Gaza Strip, south of Gaza City and north of Rafah near the Egyptian border. It has been among the areas most heavily involved in fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas since the war began, and Israeli strikes there are routinely announced by the military spokesperson's unit.

What the titles mean

The IDF uses a standardised vocabulary in these announcements. A "company commander" in Hamas terms refers to a mid-level field position within the group's military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, rather than a member of Hamas's political leadership. The "operations headquarters" is the planning and command element the military says directs training and attack preparation. A "weapons production operative", the description attached to the second man, refers to someone involved in manufacturing or assembling munitions rather than in a command role.

The phrase "October 7th Massacre" is the standard Israeli term for the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel that began the current war. Israeli official statements frequently link individual targets to preparation for that attack, as the IDF did here in saying Abu Zamar had trained operatives in advance of it.

The ceasefire framing

News.co.il reported that the IDF presented the two men's activity as a violation of the ceasefire agreement. That framing matters because it is the legal and political basis Israel uses to justify continued strikes during a period in which hostilities are formally paused. The IDF spokesperson's own statement, as published, described the men as advancing attacks and posing an immediate threat, language the military uses to assert that a strike was pre-emptive rather than retaliatory.

How these announcements are distributed

Statements of this kind are published by the IDF spokesperson's unit, usually simultaneously in Hebrew, English and Arabic, and are then picked up by Israeli outlets within minutes. Ynet's alert service carried a short breaking line saying two Hamas operatives had been killed and that one of them had led training before October 7th. N12 issued its item twice, the second time in an edited version adding that one of the two was a company commander, an illustration of how quickly these summaries are revised as the full military statement circulates.

What the reports do not say

None of the material gives a time of day for the strikes, the type of aircraft or munitions used beyond the general reference to precision weapons, or any figure for casualties other than the two named men. There is no indication in the reports of whether anyone else was hurt or killed, and no independent account from Gaza health authorities or from Hamas responding to the Israeli claims. The reports do not describe how the men were identified or located, do not say whether the second strike and the Khan Younis strike were connected operationally, and do not specify which provisions of the ceasefire agreement the military says were breached. The identification of both men, their roles and the circumstances of their deaths rests at this stage on the Israeli military's account.