(MENAFN) The Israeli military announced on Friday that it had fatally shot five Palestinians, asserting that the individuals had surfaced from a subterranean passageway in the city of Rafah, situated in southern Gaza, within zones Israel controls inside the enclave under the current ceasefire arrangement.

According to its statement, the army asserted that troops from the Nahal Brigade combat unit identified five armed men emerging from underground structures in the eastern sector of Rafah, located in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

Rafah city falls inside the territory held by Israeli forces to the east of what is referred to as the “yellow line,” a boundary specified in the ceasefire deal that became effective on Oct. 10.

For several days, Israeli media outlets have reported that roughly 200 Hamas combatants remain confined in a tunnel beneath Rafah, and that Tel Aviv has not yet replied to requests from the Palestinian faction and mediators seeking safe transit for them to areas controlled by the movement within the Strip.

Since October 2023, the Israeli military has killed nearly 70,000 individuals in Gaza — predominantly women and children — wounded more than 170,800 people, and devastated much of the enclave’s infrastructure.

MENAFN22112025000045017167ID1110381571