US pushing Israel to grant safe passage to Hamas operatives holed up in Rafah tunnels

The US is urging Israel to grant safe passage to the 100 to 200 Hamas fighters currently holed up in a tunnel network on the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line under the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a Middle Eastern diplomat tells The Times of Israel.

Washington views the effort as a pilot program for a broader decommissioning and amnesty program it is hoping to implement for Hamas fighters, in line with US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war, the Mideast diplomat says, confirming details of a report on the Axios news site.

The Trump administration envisions Hamas fighters being allowed to come out of the tunnels, upon which they would hand over their weapons to members of the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Center based in Kiryat Gat.

Those fighters would then either be given safe passage to a third country or be allowed to retreat to the western side of the Yellow Line, which is under de facto Hamas control, the diplomat says.

The US has been in intensive discussions with Israel and Turkey about the initiative over the past several days, the diplomat says.

While Israel has not rejected the US proposal outright, it has pushed back on letting all of the Hamas fighters go free, arguing that some are responsible for attacks on Israelis and will have to be taken into IDF custody if they don’t want to be killed, the diplomat adds.

Publicly, Netanyahu has taken a harder line, with his office issuing a statement last week asserting that Israel will not grant safe passage to the holed-up Hamas fighters.

A US official told The Times of Israel last week that Egyptian and Qatari mediators had informed Hamas on October 28 that the group had 24 hours to evacuate its fighters from the Israeli side of the Yellow Line or risk being exposed to Israeli fire.

However, it’s unclear whether Israel was on board with the ultimatum and would have been willing to grant safe passage to Hamas fighters who came out of the Rafah tunnel network before the deadline expired. Ultimately, the ultimatum didn’t work, though, as no fighters heeded it and talks on securing their safe passage in order to avoid a firefight that could risk the ceasefire have dragged on.

Point 6 of Trump’s 20-point plan states, “Once all hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries.”

The proposal was verbally accepted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when Trump first unveiled it at the White House in September, but the actual agreement signed by Israel and Hamas only focused on the initial ceasefire, IDF pullback, hostage-prisoner swap and humanitarian aid provisions.