US presses Israel to let 200 Hamas militants move from IDF-controlled Gaza under amnesty

IDF forces in the Israeli-controlled yellow zone in Gaza, late October 2025

Jonathan Lis and Yaniv Kubovich report in Haaretz on 5 November 2025:

Israel and the U.S. are continuing discussions on whether Israel would allow about 200 Hamas militants trapped in the tunnel complex in southern Gaza’s Rafah, an area under Israeli control, to move to Palestinian-controlled territory.

In recent days, the sides have discussed permitting a safe passage if the militants surrender their weapons. The U.S. administration fears that violent clashes between the gunmen and IDF forces in the yellow zone could spark a wider escalation and endanger the cease-fire agreement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly commented on the talks. Two days ago, a senior Israeli official said Netanyahu would not allow a “safe passage for 200 Hamas terrorists,” but did not rule out rejecting a future proposal outright.  The official added that “the prime minister remains firm in his position: Hamas must be disarmed and Gaza demilitarized, while threats of terror against our forces must be thwarted.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz addressed the issue on Wednesday, saying that “the IDF is working to destroy the tunnels and eliminate Hamas terrorists without restraint inside the yellow zone under our control.”

Far-right minister Orit Strock opposed the talks, saying that “the idea of allowing terrorists trapped in terror pockets on the blue side of Gaza to return unharmed to the red side controlled by Hamas is doubly dangerous. We already paid a heavy price for the hostages, and the mere proposal to pay again because we did not get the return is dangerous.”

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich expressed a similar view in an interview with Reshet Bet. “We must destroy the 200 terrorists stuck in Rafah. We are close to killing them inside the tunnels,” he said.

“Hamas has already pledged to return Hadar Goldin and under no circumstances will we accept paying with another 200 terrorists. Returning them would be a betrayal of the fighters who fell there. I tell the prime minister, the IDF chief and the defense minister, do not you dare do this,” Smotrich added.  Despite Smotrich’s remarks, the IDF said Wednesday that it has no information confirming that the body of Hadar Goldin, who was killed during the 2014 Gaza war, is in a tunnel with the militants. The IDF said reports to that effect are false and hurt the family.

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