Mediation efforts by Egypt, Turkey and Qatar have been facing difficulties amid talks to decide the fate of Hamas fighters stranded in underground tunnels in areas of Gaza held by the Israeli military, sources told The National.
Hamas's latest offer to resolve the issue, which was relayed to mediators earlier this week, provided for the fighters to come out of the tunnels and be given safe passage out of Gaza to live in exile abroad.
Israel is understood to have informed the mediators – who met in Cairo this week – that it categorically rejects the Hamas proposal, and insists the fighters must unconditionally surrender and be taken prisoner.
If they do not surrender, the Israeli military will bomb the tunnels or pick the fighters off as they attempt to flee, the sources said.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that it killed four militants coming out of tunnels in Rafah, in southern Gaza. On Friday, it said it found the bodies of nine Palestinian militants recently killed in the tunnel network beneath southern Gaza.
The toll on Sunday means at least 34 militants have been killed attempting to flee tunnels in the area, according to figures announced by the Israeli military.
There are no reliable estimates of the number of fighters trapped in the tunnels, but the sources believe there could be as many as 1,000.
Among them are believed to be elite fighters from Hamas's Khan Younis Brigade. Although they are running out of water, food and ammunition, the militants are said to be adamant that they will not surrender to the Israeli military.
“If no peaceful resolution is found for the impasse, they will come out of the tunnels and engage the Israeli forces,” one source said. “They may also resort to suicide missions.”
The fighters are believed to be spread out across three tunnels in the Rafah area of southern Gaza. Hamas operatives in areas under the group's control are trying to reach them using the network of tunnels, which have been widely used to attack Israeli troops over the past two decades.
However, their task is compounded by the destruction of the tunnels during the war and the need to escape detection when carrying out repairs.
The fighters became stranded after a US-sponsored ceasefire took effect on October 10, pausing the two-year war in Gaza. Under the terms of the truce, Israel withdrew its troops behind a “yellow line”.
For months, the trapped fighters have had little contact with their commanders because of Israel's relentless bombardment of the enclave. This communication completely stopped after the ceasefire.
The stalemate in talks on their fate is one of several stumbling blocks preventing the progress of the US-backed peace plan for Gaza.
During the first phase of the plan, Hamas released the remaining 20 living hostages and the bodies of most of the 28 who died in captivity. In return, Israel freed about 2,000 Palestinians who had been held in its prisons, and the bodies of more than 300. An increase in the flow of humanitarian aid into the enclave also took place, although the amount is widely believed to still be inadequate.
The second phase involves some of the more crucial provisions of the plan, including the disarmament of Hamas and the formation of a committee of independent Palestinian technocrats to run the day-to-day affairs of Gaza.
It also includes provisions for an international stabilisation force to be stationed in Gaza and for work to begin on rebuilding the devastated enclave.
Hamas has proposed surrendering, decommissioning and storing its heavy weapons under Egyptian or international supervision, while retaining firearms for self-defence. Israel, which seeks the military and political dismantlement of Hamas, has yet to publicly respond to the proposal.
Plans to establish a stabilisation force are also running into trouble. According to the sources, Egypt and Qatar are yet to receive clarifications on its mandate, rules of engagement and areas of deployment. Indonesia and Azerbaijan, two Muslim-majority nations that had been tipped as likely participants, have said they are unwilling to contribute troops to the force, while Egypt insists on Turkish participation despite Israeli opposition.
On the committee of Palestinian technocrats, Hamas and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority have submitted 40 nominations from which 15 would be selected. The authority is supposed to select eight members, while Hamas and other factions would select seven.
However, the authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, has been stonewalling the mediators, ignoring repeated pleas by Egypt and Qatar to finalise their selections, the sources said.
The Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, with a deadly, Hamas-led attack that killed about 1,200 people in southern Israeli communities. Israel's military response has killed almost 70,000 Palestinians, Gaza's health authorities have said. The fighting has also destroyed most of the enclave's built-up areas and created a humanitarian crisis during which hundreds of thousands face hunger.
The war has also given rise to charges of genocide against Israel, including at the International Court of Justice. Israel is accused of deliberately starving Gaza's estimated two million residents. Israel denies the charges.
