Israel’s army said on Tuesday that its troops killed five Palestinian fighters who likely emerged from an underground tunnel in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
The military reported that soldiers, while conducting searches in the Rafah area earlier in the day, located and killed five armed militants. Officials believe they came out of a tunnel used by a militant group in eastern Rafah.
Israeli media estimate that up to 200 Hamas fighters remain trapped in tunnels beneath Rafah, where Israeli forces redeployed under the ceasefire agreement that took effect on 10 October.
During talks in Cairo on Sunday, a Hamas delegation led by senior negotiator Khalil al-Hayya raised concerns about the Rafah fighters after communication with them “cut off”, according to a statement from the group.
Later that night, the Israeli military said troops shot a man who crossed the “yellow line” demarcating the zone still held by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad handed over to the Red Cross a body believed to be one of the three remaining dead hostages. The remains were then transferred to the Israeli army, which took them to Israel for identification at the national forensic institute.
Under last month’s ceasefire — reached after two years of devastating war — Hamas and its allies must return the bodies of the final three hostages: two Israelis and a Thai national.
The deal, brokered under US pressure, brought a fragile calm but didn’t stop the violence, as both sides accuse each other of violating its terms.
Since the ceasefire began, at least 339 Palestinians have died in Gaza, according to Hamas’s health ministry.
Also read: Egypt: Talks on the second phase of the Gaza Strip ceasefire
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