The United States is applying pressure on Israel to allow the terrorists caught behind the Yellow Line safe passage, KAN News reported on Friday night, citing an Israeli source.
Despite Israel’s opposition to allowing the terrorists to cross, US officials have continued to pressure the Jewish state, citing Hamas’s willingness to release the bodies of the remaining hostages, including the remains of Hadar Goldin, who has been held in the Gaza Strip since 2014.
The Israeli source claimed that Israel has continued to have talks about the trapped terrorists, with the understanding that the tunnel they are currently hiding in will be destroyed once they are removed.
Once Hamas no longer has any presence in Rafah, the city will absorb much of the population unaffiliated with the terror group, the source claimed.
Since the US-brokered ceasefire took effect in Gaza on October 10, the Rafah area has been the scene of at least two attacks on Israeli forces, which Israel has blamed on Hamas; the terrorist group has denied responsibility.
Egypt's proposal for holed-up Hamas terrorists: Hand over weapons, locate Rafah tunnels to exit
Egyptian mediators have proposed that, in exchange for safe passage, fighters still in Rafah surrender their arms to Egypt and give details of tunnels there so they can be destroyed, an Egyptian security official told Reuters.
Two sources said the Hamas fighters in Rafah, which the group's armed wing has said have been out of contact since March, might be unaware that a ceasefire was in place. One of them added that getting the fighters out served the interest of safeguarding the truce.
Reuters contributed to this report.