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Middle East conflict

Hamas accuses Israel of sabotaging mediators’ efforts on situation with militants in Rafah

According to Hamas, the killing and arresting the group’s fighters trapped in tunnels near Rafah "constitute a flagrant violation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and a compelling evidence of the ongoing attempts to undermine this agreement"

DOHA, November 27. /TASS/. Hamas has accused Israel of derailing the mediator’s efforts to find a solution to the problem around the group’s fighters trapped in tunnels under Israel-controlled territories in the Gaza Strip.

"Over the past month, the Movement has exerted significant efforts with various political leaderships and mediators to resolve the issue of the fighters and facilitate their return to their homes, presenting specific ideas and mechanisms to address this problem. This was done in full communication with the mediators and the US administration as one of the guarantors of the ceasefire agreement. However, the occupation has sabotaged all these efforts, prioritizing the language of killing, criminality, pursuit, and arrest, undermining the efforts of mediators who worked extensively with various international parties to end the suffering of these heroic fighters," Hamas said in a statement posted on its Telegram channel.

According to Hamas, the killing and arresting the group’s fighters trapped in tunnels near Rafah "constitute a flagrant violation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and a compelling evidence of the ongoing attempts to undermine this agreement." It called on the mediators to exert pressure on Israel so that it allows Hamas fighters "to return to their homes."

It is not clear how many Hamas militants are blocked in tunnels near Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian agency Maan, there are about150 armed Hamas fights, while the Qatari-based Al Araby television channel said there are some 50 to 60 of them. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, Israel and Arab countries assess their number at 200-300 men.

Earlier, Hamas notified the mediators about its readiness to withdraw its forces from the so-called Yellow zone, or Israel-controlled areas in the Gaza Strip, to other parts of the enclave. Israel and the United States rejected such an approach. The issue of Hamas fighters remaining in tunnels near Rafah is the most debatable during the talks on the implementation of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s plane for Gaza.

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