Israeli PM And US Special Envoy Agree On Plans To Transfer 200 Hamas Members In Rafah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a visit from US Presidential Special Envoy Jared Kushner. (Twitter/@IsraeliPM)

JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and United States Special Envoy Jared Kushner have reached an agreement to remove about 200 Hamas fighters from the Rafah region of Israel's southern Gaza, Israeli media reported Tuesday.

Daily Yedioth Ahronoth, citing an unnamed Israeli official from the Security Cabinet, said an agreement had been made regarding Hamas fighters in Rafah.

"An agreement has been reached between Netanyahu and Kushner to deport about 200 fighters (Palestinians) trapped in the Rafah tunnel," the official said.

"Based on this agreement, Israel must allow their safe transfer" out of Palestinian territory, he added.

However, the Israeli official said no country has yet agreed to accept them.

There has been no immediate comment from the US, Israel, or Hamas regarding the report.

Separately, Israeli public broadcaster KAN, citing a source close to Netanyahu, said the Israeli Prime Minister denied having made any commitments to Washington regarding the transfer of Hamas fighters in Rafah.

Earlier, a proposal proposing the handover of weapons for Hamas members in the Rafah region, the Israeli-controlled Gaza Strip would hand over their weapons in exchange for access to exit from Israeli-controlled territory.

This was done as part of a proposal to resolve issues deemed risky to the ceasefire that had been going on for a month, according to two sources familiar with the negotiations.

United States Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said the proposed deal for about 200 fighters would be a test for a broader process to strip the weapons of Hamas troops across Gaza.

"We'll probably see an example of what we're trying to do (over Gaza) with 200 fighters trapped in Rafah, and whether they're going to be able to raise their hands, come out and hand over their weapons," Witkoff said at a business conference in Florida.

Egyptian mediators have proposed that, in exchange for safe access, the fighters who are still in Rafah hand over their weapons to Egypt and provide details of the tunnels there so that the tunnel can be destroyed, said one of the sources, an Egyptian security official.

Israel and Hamas have not publicly accepted the mediator's proposal, the two sources said. Meanwhile, a third source confirmed negotiations on the matter were ongoing

Kushner himself was in Jerusalem on Monday to discuss the next phase of the US-mediated Gaza ceasefire deal, the stripping of Hamas weapons, and the formation of international stabilization troops in the trapped Palestinian pockets.

Rafah is located in the eastern region of the so-called "yellow line" controlled by Israeli soldiers, as stated in the ceasefire agreement that began on October 10. Palestinians are allowed to move in the western region of the line, but the zones are subject to daily violations by Israel resulting in hundreds of people being killed and injured.