The assassination of Yunis Hunnar came as part of a crackdown launched by Hamas on Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) affiliates in Gaza, which started when the Mujahideen Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem pledged allegiance to ISIL on February 11, 2014.[4] The crackdown intensified when the Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade ISIL affiliate officially formed in late May 2015.[5]