US pressures Israel to allow safe passage for 100 to 200 Hamas operatives in Rafah

The United States has pressured Israel to allow 100 to 200 Hamas operatives holed up in a tunnel network on the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line in southern Gaza’s Rafah to leave safely, according to a Middle Eastern diplomat who spoke to The Times of Israel on Wednesday.

Washington was said to view the effort as a pilot program for a broader decommissioning and amnesty initiative for Hamas fighters, part of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza conflict.

Under the proposal, fighters would surrender their weapons to officials from the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat and either be granted safe passage to a third country or be allowed to retreat to Hamas-controlled areas west of the Yellow Line.

The US had been in intensive discussions with Israel and Turkey on the initiative, the diplomat said.

While Israel did not outright reject the proposal, it resisted allowing all the operatives to go free, citing concerns that some were responsible for attacks on Israelis and may need to be taken into IDF custody if they didn’t want to be killed.

Washington’s proposal echoed point 6 of Trump’s 20-point plan, which 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.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had verbally accepted this framework when it was first unveiled at the White House in September. However, the October 9 agreement between Israel and Hamas focused solely on the initial ceasefire, IDF pullback, hostage-prisoner swap, and humanitarian aid, leaving the question of safe passage unresolved.

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 remained 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 dragged on.

Earlier this week, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir recommended to political officials that Israel should condition the safe passage of the operatives from Rafah to Hamas-held areas of the Strip on the return of long-time slain hostage Lt. Hadar Goldin.

Some Israeli defense officials claimed Wednesday evening that Goldin’s body, who was killed and abducted by Hamas during the 2014 Gaza War, was assessed to be held in the tunnel network in Rafah, where the operatives were said to be holed up.

According to those officials, the IDF avoided striking the tunnel over concerns that Goldin’s remains could be lost.

The IDF later denied having any information indicating that Goldin’s remains were being held in the tunnel where the operatives were trapped, calling earlier reports “false claims that harm the family.”

However, some of the trapped operatives may know the body’s location, which could be elsewhere in southern Rafah, according to Israeli assessments.