An American official talks about the opportunity to evacuate Hamas fighters from Rafah.

Israeli Channel 12 reported today, Saturday, that a senior American official stated that the return of the body of Israeli officer Hadar Goldin gives Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu space to resolve the crisis of Hamas members trapped in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

The American official said that the administration of President Donald Trump has been pressuring Hamas in recent days to return Goldin's body to Israel, in order to create an opportunity for an agreement between the two sides to end the crisis of Hamas fighters trapped in the tunnels of Rafah.

He added that the arrangement desired by Washington is the return of Goldin's body followed by the surrender of the trapped Hamas members' weapons in Rafah.

He continued that under this arrangement, the trapped individuals are granted safe passage to Hamas-controlled areas or to a third country.

The Israeli channel also quoted the American official as saying that in the second phase, the tunnels where Hamas militants were trapped will be destroyed.

A leadership source in the Al-Qassam Brigades told Al Jazeera earlier today that Al-Qassam, along with a team from the International Red Cross, retrieved the body of Israeli officer Hadar Goldin, who was killed in 2014, from a tunnel west of Rafah city.

For its part, the Ma'ariv newspaper quoted an Israeli source stating that the American pressure to allow safe passage for the besieged Hamas fighters in Rafah stems from a desire to maintain the stability of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which came into effect on October 10 of last month.

Israel estimates the number of Hamas fighters trapped in an area it occupies in Rafah to be around 200, and the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported last Tuesday that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir expressed readiness to release these fighters in exchange for the return of Hadar Goldin's body, which has been held by the Al-Qassam Brigades since 2014.

However, Israeli officials stated that the trapped Hamas fighters must choose between "surrender" or death inside the tunnels of Rafah.