Intense political and military debate continues inside Israel over the fate of dozens of Palestinian resistance fighters trapped within a tunnel in Rafah, southern Gaza. Mediators are racing to stabilise a fragile ceasefire and prevent its collapse, even as conflicting statements from Israeli officials expose deep internal disagreements about how to handle the Rafah dossier.
According to Israel’s Channel 12, Chief of Staff Herzi (Eyal) Zamir told a small security cabinet meeting that he opposes permitting the relocation of the fighters besieged inside the tunnel. Zamir reportedly insisted the crisis should end “either with their death or their surrender,” describing surrender in degrading terms: that they should emerge in their underwear, blindfolded and handcuffed, to be transferred to Sde Teiman detention camp.
Zamir also said he will not move to the next phase of any prisoner-exchange arrangement before the remains of Israeli soldiers held in Gaza are recovered, and he argued that reconstruction must not begin until Gaza is fully demilitarised.
Defense Minister Israel Katz told the same meeting that deportation of the trapped fighters had been considered earlier but was shelved after, he alleged, Hamas carried out attacks during pauses in fighting that killed three Israeli soldiers.
The Rafah Tunnel: Estimates and Caution
Maariv reported that the army estimates between 120 and 150 al-Qassam fighters — members of Hamas’s military wing — are trapped in the Rafah tunnel, on the Israeli side of the so-called “yellow line.” Israel’s public broadcaster said the army has begun mapping the complex tunnel network in Rafah but has refrained from attacking it for fear of losing evidence linked to Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, killed in Rafah in 2014 and whose remains Hamas has long held.
The Israeli army later denied having confirmation that Goldin’s body is inside that tunnel, calling such reports “false claims that harm his family.”
Katz’s Directive: “Erase the Tunnels”
On Friday, Katz announced he had ordered the army to “destroy and erase” all Hamas tunnels in Gaza “until the last tunnel.” In a post to X he wrote: “If there are no tunnels, there will be no Hamas.” He has framed the elimination of the tunnel network as central to the campaign to disarm Gaza, calling it a top priority in the Israeli-controlled “yellow zone,” which the army estimates covers roughly 53 percent of Gaza’s area.
The Human Cost: Gaza’s Catastrophe
These tactical and rhetorical escalations come amid an unprecedented humanitarian disaster in Gaza following Israel’s war since 7 October 2023. Official and independent tallies cited in reporting place the Palestinian death toll in the tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands wounded. Infrastructure has been devastated, and famine and disease already claim lives. Civilian suffering is the immediate and inescapable reality as militaries debate tactical options.
The debates inside Israel reflect a broader moral and strategic impasse: whether to prioritise punitive measures and total demilitarisation at vast human cost, or to seek compromises that protect civilians and preserve the fragile gains of ceasefire diplomacy. Zamir’s hardline wording — death or humiliation — and Katz’s vow of eradication reveal a policy impulse that risks deepening catastrophe rather than resolving the underlying causes of conflict.
What This Means for Ceasefire and Negotiations
- Risk to Ceasefire Stability: Public calls to annihilate tunnel networks and refusal to consider relocation measures may undercut mediator efforts and provoke renewed hostilities.
- Humanitarian Implications: Assaults on tunnel complexes embedded beneath populated areas risk enormous civilian casualties and further destruction of Gaza’s already decimated infrastructure.
- Legal and Moral Questions: Forced deportation, collective punishment, and measures that treat captives as commodities raise serious questions under international humanitarian law.
- Symbolic Impact: The language of humiliation and eradication intensifies regional outrage and hardens positions on both sides, complicating diplomatic pathways.
Conclusion — A Call for Human-Centred Policy
While security concerns and the trauma of past attacks shape Israeli debate, the moral imperative must remain clear: protect civilian life, uphold international law, and use negotiation to avoid a renewed spiral of violence. Any military action that ignores the human cost will only deepen suffering and fuel cycles of resistance and retaliation.
For the Palestinian people, already enduring siege, bombardment, displacement, and famine, the Rafah tunnel file is one more test of steadfastness and of the international community’s willingness to act. For mediators and states that seek a sustainable ceasefire, the path is narrow: insist on measures that safeguard civilians, secure humane solutions for combatants and detainees, and insist that reconstruction and relief proceed without preconditions that amount to subjugation.
