A Hamas fighter guards an area where they are searching for the bodies of captives with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza City. AFP
In a statement on Sunday, Hamas said its fighters in Rafah would not surrender and called on mediators to find a solution to the crisis, which threatens the fragile ceasefire.
Hamas official Ismail Ridwan told Al Jazeera that the movement had informed mediators of its readiness to withdraw fighters from areas under Israeli control beyond the so-called “yellow line.”
He held the Israeli occupation army responsible for any escalation if its forces tried to storm those positions.
Meanwhile, the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, warned Israel against confrontation, noting that “surrender or capture are not options in Al-Qassam’s dictionary.”
Reports in the Israeli outlet Walla said the United States promised Hamas a safe passage for around 200 of its fighters besieged in southern Rafah, in exchange for the return of the remains of Israeli soldier Hadar Goldin.
It remains unclear where the resistance members would be relocated, with sources suggesting they may be transferred to a third country rather than elsewhere in Gaza.
After Hamas handed over Goldin’s body, Washington reportedly intensified pressure on Israel to allow the fighters to leave Rafah.
US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday to discuss the issue and next steps for the Gaza agreement, according to the Jerusalem Post.
An Israeli official told the paper that US officials want to resolve the status of fighters still stranded in Rafah’s tunnels, which remain under Israeli army control.
“The American idea is to conduct an experiment: allow them to disarm, leave the area, and begin rebuilding the Rafah region, all as a pilot program for President Trump’s plan to demilitarise Hamas,” an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post.
Another official said US pressure on Israel is “intense,” leaving Tel Aviv with “little choice but to reach a settlement.”
US envoys Kushner and Witkoff are expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to discuss potential solutions for the standoff in Rafah.
Israeli Ynet news quoted a US official as saying that Kushner intends to propose a temporary relocation of Hamas fighters to a third country in exchange for their disarmament and cessation of resistance activities.
The American envoys are also expected to review the ongoing implementation of President Trump’s Gaza peace plan and the transition to its second phase.
Since the agreement began, Hamas has handed over 20 Israeli captives alive, while Israel says it is still awaiting the remains of five of the 28.
Tel Aviv has tied the start of negotiations for the next phase of the deal to the delivery of all remaining bodies.
However, the Al-Qassam Brigades said recovering the bodies has been difficult and completing the process will require additional teams and technical equipment.
On Sunday, Hamas also revealed that it had reached an understanding to form a governing committee for Gaza, but said Israel had blocked its establishment.
The proposed committee would have included eight members, including one woman, and would have been headed by Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGO Network, the group added.
Hamas urged mediators to press Israel to begin implementing the second phase of the Gaza agreement, which envisions the gradual deployment of a multinational force to take over security responsibilities inside Gaza as Israeli forces withdraw.
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