The occupation army talks about developments against the Rafah tunnel fighters.

The Israeli occupation army claimed on Tuesday evening that it killed five Palestinian resistance fighters who 'most likely' emerged from a tunnel in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army stated, 'During search operations conducted by soldiers in the Rafah area, five armed terrorists were spotted and eliminated; they were likely terrorists who emerged from an underground tunnel belonging to a terrorist organization in eastern Rafah.'

According to several media outlets, dozens of Hamas fighters are trapped in the tunnels of Rafah.

Last Saturday, the spokesperson for the occupation army claimed the assassination and arrest of all fighters belonging to the Al-Qassam Brigades east of Rafah city, in the south of the strip, following hours after announcing the arrest of six of them.

The spokesperson said that 'the army' had assassinated 11 Palestinians and arrested six others from one of the tunnels in eastern Rafah in the last 24 hours.

He announced the conclusion of this file, which had been the subject of discussion between the occupation and the American administration and mediators for weeks.

A delegation from Hamas, headed by the movement's chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, discussed on Sunday during talks in Cairo with the head of the Egyptian General Intelligence, Hassan Rashad, who is engaged in mediation efforts to resolve the conflict, the fate of the 'Rafah fighters' with whom communication had been cut off.

The Israeli army also announced on Tuesday evening that it killed a man who crossed the 'yellow line' that is supposed to mark the boundaries of the area from which Israeli forces withdrew in the Gaza Strip.

The issue of the trapped 'Hamas' fighters in Rafah erupted due to two security incidents following the reaching of an agreement, the first on October 19 and the second on the 28th of the same month, in which Israel claimed clashes occurred with Palestinian militants and accused 'Hamas' of violating the agreement.

However, the 'Al-Qassam Brigades', the armed wing of the 'Hamas' movement, stated in its first response to the clashes that 'communication has been cut off with the remaining members of its groups in Rafah since the return of the war in March of last year.'

A report published by the 'Cairo News' channel previously stated that Israel is trying to exploit this crisis to undermine the ceasefire agreement.

Since mid this month, sources close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have denied that he made commitments to Washington regarding the trapped 'Hamas' fighters in Rafah.

Israeli officials are calling for the surrender of these fighters and their transfer to Israel for interrogation, or their killing if they refuse to surrender.

Meanwhile, the 'Al-Qassam Brigades' confirmed earlier that 'there is no principle of surrender or handing oneself over to the enemy in our dictionary,' holding Israel responsible for any clashes that occur with its members trapped in Rafah.

For two years since October 8, 2023, the occupation army, with American support, has committed genocide against the Gaza Strip, where about 2.4 million Palestinians live, resulting in more than 69,000 Palestinian martyrs and over 170,000 injured, most of whom are children and women, with reconstruction costs estimated by the United Nations at about 70 billion dollars.