IDF says four Hamas operatives killed, two captured in thwarted attempt to flee tunnel under Rafah

In an update, the IDF says it killed four Palestinian gunmen and captured two other operatives who had emerged from tunnels in eastern Rafah — an IDF-held area in the southern Gaza Strip where dozens of Hamas fighters are believed to be trapped underground.

This morning, soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras spotted the six operatives after they emerged from tunnels.

The Israeli Air Force then carried out an airstrike against the operatives, and troops of the Nahal Brigade were dispatched to the area to carry out scans.

The IDF says that the Nahal soldiers located in a building an operative who was killed in the airstrike and three other gunmen. The troops opened fire on the armed terror operatives and killed them, the army says.

Two additional terror operatives who were in the building were captured by the soldiers, the IDF adds.

In the past week, the IDF has reported killing over 20 terror operatives and capturing a further eight, after they tried to flee from the tunnels in Rafah.

The IDF has vowed to kill or capture all the remaining operatives on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line that divides Gaza in accordance with the October ceasefire agreement.

Palestinian gunmen who tried to flee from a tunnel in southern Gaza’s Rafah are targeted in an airstrike, November 26, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)