Israel Claims To Kill Dozens Of Palestinian Militants In Tunnel Operations In Gaza In The Last Week

The Israeli military is in front of the entrance to the tunnel in Gaza. (Source: IDF)

JAKARTA - The Israeli military on Sunday announced it had succeeded in killing more than 40 Palestinian militants in an operation targeting a tunnel in the Rafah, Gaza Strip, over the past week.

Earlier, the military announced it had killed four militants emerging from underground in the southernmost city of the Gaza region on Saturday night.

Dozens of Hamas fighters are hiding in tunnels in southern Gaza, under Israeli military-controlled areas.

Over the past 40 days, troops have focused their efforts around the eastern Rafah, "with the aim of dismantling the underground tunnel route that is still in the area and eradicating terrorists hiding within it," the military said in a statement.

They further said, "more than 40 terrorists have been eradicated" in the past week.

"In addition, dozens of tunnels and locations of terrorist infrastructure, both above and underground, have been dismantled in the area," he continued.

Earlier, sources told AFP last Thursday that negotiations were underway over the fate of fighters still in the southern Gaza tunnel network.

On Wednesday, Hamas called on midfield countries to pressure Israel to allow them to pass the tunnel safely, for the first time the group has publicly acknowledged the situation.

It is known that the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas brokered by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United States came into effect on October 10.

Under the terms of a ceasefire, the Israeli army withdrew back to what is called the Yellow Line in the Gaza Strip, a boundary marked above ground in several places with a yellow concrete block.

On the other hand, there are Hamas militants in the tunnels located on the Israeli-controlled side of the line.

"Our fighters in Rafah were unable to accept their surrender or weapons to the occupation," Hamas official Husam Badran said in a statement.

Last Thursday, a prominent member of Hamas in Gaza told AFP there were an estimated 60-80 members in Rafah.

Badran accused Israel of avoiding a further step from the ceasefire, adding that the delay "will only push the entire region into further instability."

The Gaza War was triggered by a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel, resulting in the death of 1,221 people.

Israel's retaliatory attacks on Gaza have killed at least 70,103 people, according to data from the region's Ministry of Health that the United Nations considers reliable.

The ministry said that since the ceasefire took effect, 356 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.