Hamas rejects any surrender in Rafah as standoff over trapped fighters intensifies
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Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem on Saturday firmly rejected any possibility of surrender or disarmament by Palestinian fighters in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where dozens of resistance members remain trapped in underground tunnels.
“There is no concept of surrender or handing over weapons to the occupation in our doctrine,” Qassem said, stressing that “the occupation will not obtain an image of surrender from the resistance fighters in Rafah.”
He accused 'Israel' of refusing to engage with Egyptian and American mediators seeking to resolve what he described as an “artificially manufactured crisis,” warning that any 'Israeli' attempt to exploit the situation could threaten the current ceasefire.
Rafah at the Center of Ceasefire Strains
The latest tension stems from the ceasefire agreement reached on 10 October 2025, after which 'Israeli' forces took control of more than half of the Gaza Strip.
Despite progress on a prisoner exchange deal and the launch of early reconstruction efforts, Rafah has witnessed sporadic clashes and mutual accusations over responsibility for recent attacks.
'Israeli' military estimates suggest that between 150 and 200 members of Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, are trapped inside tunnels beneath Rafah, facing severe shortages of supplies.
Mounting Humanitarian and International Concerns
The ongoing standoff has kept the Rafah crossing closed for weeks, halting the flow of aid and deepening Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, where shortages of food, medicine, and essential supplies have grown increasingly dire.
While 'Israeli' officials say their forces continue searching for “terror operatives” inside the tunnel network, US officials have called for a “swift resolution,” describing Rafah as a key “test case” in broader efforts toward Hamas’s disarmament.
European diplomats have similarly warned that any collapse of the situation in Rafah could trigger a wider escalation across the region.
