Rafah terrorists reject Israeli offer, plan to die ‘as martyrs’

Israel reportedly offered Hamas terrorists holed up in Rafah tunnel network to surrender, be transferred to Israeli prison with an option to be released to Hamas-controlled territory.

By World Israel News Staff

A group of Hamas terrorists holed up in a tunnel network under the southern Gaza city of Rafah have rejected Israel’s offers of clemency and release back to Hamas-controlled areas in Gaza in exchange for promising not to return to terrorism, according to a report published Wednesday night.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the Trump administration has been working to negotiate a deal between Israel and Hamas that would secure the safe passage of Hamas terrorists from a tunnel network deep in Israeli-controlled territory in southern Gaza.

Estimates of the number of terrorists holed up in the Rafah tunnel network ranged from 150 to 200, though Israeli forces and anti-Hamas militias have killed or captured more than three dozen in the last week.

Recent reports suggest the IDF now believes that roughly 100 terrorists are still holed up in the Rafah tunnel network.

Turkey is said to be behind the effort to reach an agreement sparing the lives of the trapped terrorists.

According to a report last week by Israel’s Channel 12, Israel sent an offer to Hamas via intermediaries proposing to allow the Rafah terrorists conditional safe passage across the Yellow Line into the Red Zone – areas of Gaza under Hamas control.

Under the Israeli plan, the terrorists would be required to surrender to IDF forces and hand over their weapons, and they would then be taken to Israeli detention facilities.

Once detained, any of the terrorists who pledge not to return to terrorism would be given safe passage to the Red Zone in Gaza.

However, an Israeli official cited in Wednesday night’s report said that the terrorists in Rafah have thus far rejected Israel’s offer, adding that they appear determined to die as “martyrs.”

“We gave the terrorists in Rafah the option to live and to be released from there,” the official was quoted as saying. “Up to this moment they have not agreed to meet the conditions we set; it appears as though they have decided to become martyrs.”