Israel closes in on Hamas fighters trapped in tunnels, testing cease-fire

For most of the year, a couple hundred Hamas militants have manned fighting positions in the tunnels under southern Gaza.

- Summer Said & Dov Lieber

Near-daily exchanges of fire extend fighting and create a roadblock in peace talks.

(AP)

But the walls are closing in.The U.S.-brokered ceasefire in October left them on the wrong side of the line dividing the parts of the enclave controlled by Hamas and Israel. Food and especially water are running low, Arab intelligence and Israeli military officials briefed on the fighters’ situation said. And with the hostages and the bodies of all but one of the dead captives now returned by Hamas, Israel has a freer hand to tear up tunnels looking for its enemy.

Israeli troops are mapping out the tunnels of eastern Rafah, where the local Hamas brigade is trapped, and using massive drills to dig into the underground system and destroy it with explosives, according to Israeli military statements. Israel estimates there were around 100 to 200 fighters in the tunnels when the ceasefire began in October. In public statements, Hamas officials say some 60 to 80 fighters are still holed up there. In some areas, Israel is flooding tunnels with water to push out the trapped fighters, a senior Israeli military official said.

The result is a desperate squeeze in which fighters face the choice of being killed in the tunnels or making a dangerous run for Hamas-held territory. It is a fight to the death that is continuing even as hostilities remain broadly halted elsewhere.

The fighters’ situation has become an issue in talks to advance the ceasefire in Gaza past the initial phase of pausing hostilities, with Hamas pressing negotiators to broker a deal to let the fighters return to the militant group’s territory. Israel is willing to let them live if they surrender, but Hamas has rejected the demand, much as it has refused to accept a peace plan’s requirement that it disarm and step away from any role in running affairs in Gaza.