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Hamas condemned Israel’s pursuit of its fighters trapped in the Rafah tunnels to eliminate them, calling the move a blatant violation of the ceasefire.
The movement said it had made significant efforts to resolve the issue, but Israel undermined them, urging mediators to act swiftly to bring the fighters back.
Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday that “the brutal crime committed by the occupation, pursuing, killing and arresting the fighters trapped in the tunnels of Rafah, constitutes a blatant violation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement and clear evidence of ongoing attempts to undermine and destroy it.”
The statement added that Hamas “spent the past month making extensive efforts with various political leaders and mediators to resolve the fighters’ situation and ensure their return home, and put forward specific ideas and mechanisms to address the issue.”
The statement said Hamas had conveyed all this “in full coordination with the mediators and the U.S. administration, as one of the guarantors of the ceasefire agreement. However, the occupation destroyed all these efforts, prioritizing killing, violence, pursuit and arrest, undermining the mediators’ work, despite their extensive efforts with various international parties to end the suffering of these heroic fighters.”
Hamas held Israel “fully responsible for the lives of our fighters” and called on “the brotherly mediators to move urgently to pressure the occupation to allow our men to return to their homes, as they represent a unique model of sacrifice, courage and patience, and a symbol of the dignity and freedom of the Palestinian people.”
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