US President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are expected in Israel on Monday for a meeting with Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, Hamas said that its trapped fighters in Rafah will not surrender, urging mediators to solve the issue as Israel refuses to grant them safe exit, putting the ceasefire agreement at risk of collapse.
US Envoys in Israel
Trump’s advisor and son-in-law, Kushner, arrived in Israel on Sunday to hold talks with Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials on Monday, reported the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post, citing a source familiar with the matter. Witkoff is expected to join Kushner on Monday.
The talks will address moving forward with the second phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, which came into force on October 10 between Hamas and Israel, with the mediation of the US, Egypt, Qatar and Türkiye.
The US envoys, who played a key role in brokering the peace agreement, will discuss the implementation of the ceasefire deal, Gaza reconstruction efforts, and the expansion of the Abraham Accords after Kazakhstan decided to join.
Hamas Fighters in Rafah
One of the crucial issues on Trump envoys’ agenda is the Hamas fighters holed-up in Rafah. Currently, there are around 200 fighters trapped in tunnels behind the Yellow Line, the areas to which Israeli forces withdrew under the ceasefire agreement.
Since the ceasefire took effect in Gaza, the southern city of Rafah has been a flashpoint, with at least two attacks against Israeli forces that prompted retaliation against Palestinians, according to Reuters.
In this context, mediators suggested that Hamas fighters surrender their arms in return for safe passage to other areas in Gaza – a proposal that Witkoff said would be a test for Hamas disarmament on a broader scale.
Under an Egyptian proposal, the fighters would surrender their arms to Egypt and give details about tunnels in Rafah to be destroyed, an Egyptian security official told Reuters.
No Surrender
However, Hamas armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades, refused on Sunday to surrender. “The enemy must know that the concept of surrender and handing oneself over does not exist in the dictionary of the Al-Qassam Brigades,” it said in a statement.
Moreover, the group blamed Israel for any violence in Rafah. “The (Israeli) occupation bears the full responsibility for clashes with our fighters in Rafah who are defending themselves in an area under Israel’s control,” the statement added.
Al-Qassam also urged mediators to ensure the ceasefire agreement holds. “We place the mediators before their responsibilities, and they must find a solution to ensure the continuation of the ceasefire and prevent the enemy from using flimsy pretexts to violate it and exploit the situation to target innocent civilians in Gaza,” the group noted.
US Pressures
The US and other mediators are increasing pressures on Israel to grant Hamas fighters safe passage in exchange for surrendering their weapons, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A source familiar with the matter told the FT that Israel was about to agree to a deal earlier this month, but far-right members of Netanyahu’s coalition thwarted it.
Similarly, an Israeli official told the Jerusalem Post they expect Witkoff and Kushner to press Netanyahu to show flexibility on the issue out of concern that any Israeli engagement with the fighters could cause the ceasefire to collapse.
“Outwardly, everyone declares that Israel will not allow those 100–200 terrorists to leave the tunnels, even if they lay down their arms. But behind closed doors, everyone admits: if there is significant American pressure on this issue, Israel will have no choice but to compromise,” the official said.
