Hamas warned in a statement issued on Wednesday, November 26, that Israel’s killing and arresting of its resistance fighters, who have been trapped in tunnels in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip for weeks, would jeopardize the ceasefire deal.
The Palestinian resistance movement considered the pursuit of the trapped fighters a “blatant violation” of the US-brokered ceasefire deal.
Hamas also clarified that it “made great efforts during the past month with different political leaders and mediators to solve the problem of the fighters, and secure their return to their homes by providing certain ideas and mechanisms” to address the crisis.
The statement was released one day after the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) announced that it killed four Hamas fighters and arrested two others, while they were getting out from underground tunnels in Rafah, within the Israeli-controlled “yellow-line” zone.
It is worth noting that around 200 fighters affiliated with Hamas have been trapped in Rafah since the ceasefire deal came into force on October 10. This is despite the fact that the Palestinian group as well as mediators have demanded a safe passage for the fighters to areas inside Gaza not controlled by Israel as part of the agreement.
On Sunday, November 30, family sources confirmed that Abdallah Hamad, who is the son of Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official and member of the movement’s negotiation delegation, was among the trapped Al-Qassam fighters that were killed by the IOF in Rafah.
Moreover, the IOF announced in a statement that same day that it has killed over 40 of those fighters inside the tunnels during the past week, but Hamas has not confirmed the claim yet. The Israeli military further stated that it will intensify efforts to demolish the remaining tunnels in eastern Rafah and eliminate the trapped combatants therein.
The pursuit of Hamas combatants, one of over 393 Israeli violations
Israel’s continued pursuit of Hamas fighters constitutes one of at least 393 reported Israeli violations since the ceasefire took effect.
United Nations rapporteurs warned in a statement issued on Monday, November 24, that Israel’s flagrant infringements of the truce agreement resulted in the killing of 339 Palestinians, including more than 70 children, and the injuring over 870 others.
As Israeli violations continued in the days that followed the statement, the death toll increased to 352 based on the latest information provided by medical sources in Gaza, on Thursday, November 27.
These sources added that the tally of Palestinian fatalities since Israel’s genocidal aggression on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, has risen to 69,799, most of them children and women.
Israel responds to Hamas’s warning by offering a surrender proposal
An Israeli official was quoted by local media on Thursday, declaring that his government had sent a proposal to Hamas through mediators last week, suggesting that the trapped combatants should hand themselves to the Israeli authorities if they want to avoid being killed.
Arab and Palestinian sources: “no progress is visible” in implementing phase two of Gaza ceasefire
Israeli media reports surfaced on Thursday, regarding talks on the implementation of phase two of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz cited Arab and Palestinian sources familiar with the negotiations, saying that no progress in the talks is visible as Hamas refuses to disarm before Israel withdraws from Gaza and a detailed plan to hand over its weapons is brought forward.
Meanwhile, Israeli Channel 14 said it was told by an official at the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) for Gaza that first troops of the International Stabilization Force (ISF) are expected to arrive in Gaza next January.
The channel added that the “disarmament process” in the war-torn strip will be completed by the end of April.
The post Hamas warns of ceasefire collapse as Israel continues to target its trapped fighters in Rafah appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.
From Peoples Dispatch via this RSS feed