Hamas announced late Sunday it has lost all communication with its fighters besieged in tunnels beneath Rafah, an area under full Israeli military control, intensifying fears over their fate. The group called on regional mediators to intervene immediately to prevent further escalation.
In a statement posted on its Telegram channel, Hamas said a high-ranking delegation had met in Cairo with Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad to discuss the deteriorating situation in Rafah and the stalled Gaza ceasefire agreement.
The delegation, led by Mohamed Darwish, head of Hamas’s leadership council, included senior leaders Khaled Meshaal, Khalil Al-Hayya, Nizar Awadallah, Zaher Jabarin, and politburo member Ghazi Hamad.
According to the statement, Israeli forces have surrounded Hamas fighters in the underground tunnel network and continue to conduct targeted military operations aimed at its destruction.
In recent weeks, the Israeli military proposed that fighters surrender in exchange for a halt to attacks—an offer firmly rejected by Hamas’s leadership.
The group resolved to resist in Rafah, a Hamas official had told Al Manassa, after negotiations over the fighters’ safety collapsed. The fighters, now trapped beneath territory seized by Israeli troops, remain under siege.
As ceasefire, Israel has refused to show proof of their claim that Hamas fighters had broken the truce. Hamas has decried this as the occupation army creating “fabricated pretexts” to justify further airstrikes.
During their Cairo meeting Sunday, Hamas officials reaffirmed commitment to the agreement’s first phase and urged progress toward the second.
Under the terms of the truce, the second phase—focused on international postwar governance of Gaza and the forcible disarmament of Palestinian resistance groups—was set to begin once the bodies of three Israeli captives, believed to be buried under rubble, were recovered.
Hamas warned that ongoing Israeli violations threaten to collapse the fragile agreement. The group demanded a clear enforcement mechanism, overseen by mediators, to log and respond to breaches in real time. It also called for an end to unilateral Israeli actions that risk reigniting hostilities.
In this backdrop, the negotiations between Hamas and Israel, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, are still ongoing. Washington and Tel Aviv are reportedly discussing “fallback” plans, in case Trump's “peace” plan falters.
