Israel and Hamas are locked in a ceasefire dispute over 100–200 fighters trapped underground in Rafah, with military pressure, diplomatic mediation, and political stakes shaping the standoff

According to Israeli estimates, a group of between 100 and 200 Hamas fighters has been trapped underground in Rafah for several weeks. The operatives are stuck in territory that came under Israeli military control when the October 10, 2025 ceasefire took effect, creating a dangerous predicament that threatens to unravel the fragile truce. The situation has become a slow-motion crisis, with Israeli forces killing or capturing fighters each time they emerge, while diplomats work frantically behind the scenes to prevent the issue from reigniting full-scale conflict.

How the Fighters Became Trapped

When fighting stopped in October, the agreement did not return all of Gaza to Hamas control. Instead, Israeli forces pulled back to a predetermined boundary military planners refer to as the Yellow Line. This demarcation, which leaves Israel holding more than half of Gaza’s land area, runs through Rafah and other strategic locations.

The Hamas operatives were underground when the ceasefire came into force and suddenly found that the geography above them had changed. The tunnel exits they would normally have used now opened into zones patrolled by Israeli soldiers instead of Hamas fighters. Essentially, the ceasefire created an invisible cage around them, turning their underground hideouts into traps once the surface territory came under total Israeli control.

Israel’s Position

From Israel’s perspective, targeting these Hamas operatives does not breach the ceasefire. Military officials argue that the agreement explicitly allows them to dismantle underground military infrastructure and neutralize armed combatants who pose threats in Israeli-controlled zones. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) regards this as a defensive action necessary to protect both soldiers stationed in Gaza and Israeli communities in the Western Negev region near the border.

Israeli forces have presented the trapped fighters with a stark binary choice: come out with their hands up or die underground. Military units from the Nahal and Golani Brigades have spent recent weeks surrounding the tunnel locations, collapsing extensive sections of the underground network, and striking dozens of targets, including both tunnel entrances and buildings Hamas used for military purposes.

Last week, Israeli officials transmitted an offer through intermediary nations that would permit surrender followed by relocation, although the full details have not been disclosed publicly. Within Israel’s political establishment, opinion is divided between those advocating accepting surrender and harder-line voices calling for the total elimination of the trapped fighters.

Hamas’ Perspective

Hamas avoided publicly discussing the trapped fighters for weeks, but on November 26, the organization spoke out for the first time. In an official statement, Hamas blamed Israel entirely for the crisis and demanded that countries mediating the ceasefire force Israel to let the fighters return safely to Hamas-controlled areas.

Hamas has drawn a firm line: these fighters will not surrender, and mediators must find another solution. Sources with knowledge of the negotiations report that the trapped men may agree to disarm but will not accept exile from Gaza. Hamas has apparently managed to establish some form of contact with its trapped operatives, yet how they are communicating remains unclear.

From Hamas’s perspective, Israel’s military operations targeting these fighters represent a clear violation of the ceasefire framework, directly contradicting Israel’s interpretation that such actions are permissible.

Casualties and Captures

Israeli military operations have exacted a heavy toll on fighters trying to escape. The past seven days alone have seen more than 20 killed and at least 14 taken into custody.

The IDF has deployed integrated surveillance systems—cameras monitoring tunnel exits, intelligence gathering on the ground, and aircraft ready to strike—to detect and intercept escape attempts. Fighters who surface are typically armed, and Israeli forces have recovered automatic rifles, ammunition, and explosives from those killed.

Potential Solutions Under Negotiation

Egyptian diplomats floated a proposal last week that would see the fighters surrender their weapons to Egypt and provide information about tunnel locations to enable their destruction. In exchange, the operatives would receive safe passage back to Hamas-governed parts of Gaza. Neither Hamas nor Israel has publicly accepted this framework.

American diplomacy, through an envoy in President Donald Trump’s administration, Jared Kushner, is also active, with Turkish officials involved as well. Egyptian mediators have rejected suggestions to send the fighters into permanent exile abroad, instead supporting their return to other areas within Gaza.

Sources familiar with Israeli government discussions note that there is reluctance to collapse the tunnels with the fighters still inside, since this could be interpreted as a ceasefire violation. Images of a mass surrender could also deliver a domestic political win for Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Hamas is considering its options: permitting fighters to surrender to Israel would hand the enemy a propaganda victory, yet the steady stream of casualties each time a fighter attempts to escape is eroding what remains of the organization’s fighting strength in this area.

The impasse continues, with both Israel and Hamas maneuvering within the narrow constraints created by attempts to maintain the ceasefire while pursuing conflicting military and political goals.