GAZA CITY – The Palestinian militant group Hamas have called on mediating countries to pressure Israel to allow safe passage for dozens of its fighters holed up in tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip.
The request came after the Israeli military said it killed over 20 Hamas members over the past week “who attempted to flee from the underground terror infrastructure in the area”, and apprehended eight more.
“We hold (Israel) fully responsible for the lives of our fighters and call upon our mediators to take immediate action to pressure (Israel) to allow our sons to return home,” Hamas said in a statement.
It was the first time the Islamist group had publicly acknowledged that its members were trapped in the tunnels.
Israeli media has reported that for weeks, between 100 and 200 Hamas militants have remained trapped in a network of tunnels under the city of Rafah, in an area of the Gaza Strip under Israeli military control.
Under the terms of a US-brokered ceasefire that entered into force on Oct. 10, the Israeli army withdrew from coastal parts of the Palestinian territory to a so-called “yellow line” which marks the area under Israeli control.
Earlier this month, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff alluded during a business conference in Miami to the “200 fighters who are trapped in Rafah” and said that their surrender, including turning over their weapons, could be a “test” for both parties in the ceasefire, Israel and Hamas.
However, Israel does not appear to be willing to compromise on their safe release from the tunnel.
An Israeli government spokesperson told AFP earlier this month that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is not allowing safe passage for 200 Hamas terrorists” and that he “remains firm in his position to dismantle Hamas’s military capabilities and demilitarise the Gaza Strip”.
In its statement on Wednesday, Hamas accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement through the “pursuit, liquidation and arrest of resistance fighters besieged in the tunnels of Rafah.”
Meanwhile, with no backpack, books or uniform, 11-year-old Layan Haji navigates the ruins of Gaza City and heads to a makeshift classroom after two years of war halted her education.
But the school is not what she is used to. Painted walls and students’ artwork no longer adorn the walls and hallways — instead, tents set up in a battered building serve as their temporary classrooms.
“I walk for half an hour at least. The streets are devastated, full of ruins… It is difficult and sad,” Haji said, wearing a torn shirt and patched trousers.
But “I am happy to return to my studies,” added the young girl, who already dreams of becoming a doctor.
Haji is one of 900 students who are going to the Al-Louloua al-Qatami school, one of a number of these establishments that have opened their doors in a bid to allow children to resume their schooling for the first time since the Israel-Hamas war broke out.
“We don’t have books or notebooks. The libraries are bombed and destroyed,” said Haji, who lives in a displacement camp in the Tal al-Hawa area in Gaza City.
“There is nothing left,” she added.
A month after a fragile ceasefire took effect, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and Gaza’s education ministry announced that children had gradually begun returning to schools in areas not under Israeli military control.
Sixteen-year-old Said Sheldan said he was full of joy at being able to attend school now that the war has stopped.
But “I don’t have books, notebooks, pens or a bag. There are no chairs, electricity or water — not even streets,” he said.
But before going to the classroom, Sheldan has much more basic needs to attend to.
