WASHINGTON, 09 Nov. - (ANA) - Israeli and US media have reported that Washington is pressing Israel to permit a safe corridor for over 150 Hamas fighters trapped in tunnels on the Israeli-controlled side of the "yellow line" in southern Gaza, a boundary established under the US-brokered ceasefire agreement.

 

According to Israel's Maariv on Saturday, US officials believe allowing the fighters to withdraw toward Hamas-held areas could help stabilise the fragile truce and prevent further bloodshed.

 

Israeli officials have resisted the proposal, describing it as a dangerous precedent and linking any potential change in policy to the recovery of the body of Israeli officer Hadar Goldin, killed in Gaza in 2014 and still held by Hamas.

 

The Times of Israel reported that the safe-passage plan was being discussed as part of a wider American initiative to de-escalate the conflict and to encourage the gradual disarmament of armed factions.

 

The initiative is understood to involve coordination with Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, as well as the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Centre in Israel.

 

The New York Times reported that dozens of Palestinian fighters remain trapped behind Israeli lines, with some believed to be sheltering in Rafah’s extensive tunnel network.

 

Their proximity to Israeli troops has raised concerns of new clashes that could unravel the ceasefire, which Israeli attacks have repeatedly violated.

 

On Sunday, Hamas's armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said the fighters in the Rafah tunnels would not surrender to Israel and called on mediators to find a solution that preserves the ceasefire urgently.

 

"The enemy must know that the concept of surrender and handing oneself over does not exist in the dictionary of the Al-Qassam Brigades," the group said in a statement.

 

Egyptian mediators have reportedly proposed that, in exchange for safe passage, the fighters surrender their weapons to Egyptian authorities and disclose tunnel locations so they can be destroyed.

 

US envoy Steve Witkoff said the proposal could serve as a test for a broader disarmament process across Gaza.

 

Al-Qassam warned that Israel would bear full responsibility if it engaged the fighters, stressing that any escalation could endanger the truce.

 

"We place the mediators before their responsibilities, and they must find a solution to ensure the continuation of the ceasefire and prevent the enemy from using flimsy pretexts to violate it," the group said.

 

The Rafah area has seen the deadliest incidents since the ceasefire took effect in October, with three Israeli soldiers killed and dozens of Palestinians reportedly killed in subsequent Israeli retaliatory strikes.

 

Separately, Hamas said it would hand over the body of Israeli soldier Hadar Goldin on Sunday afternoon.

 

Since the ceasefire began, Hamas has returned the bodies of 23 Israeli captives, while Israel has transferred 300 Palestinian bodies to Gaza, according to the enclave’s health ministry.

 

Palestinian officials said Israeli strikes on Sunday killed a man in Bani Suhaila east of Khan Younis.    - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/09 November 2025 - - -