JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL

Four Israeli soldiers were injured in clashes with Hamas fighters in Rafah the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the army said.

A military statement said that one of the soldiers was severely wounded, while three others sustained moderate injuries in eastern Rafah.

Channel 14 said that clashes erupted after three Palestinian fighters allegedly emerged from a tunnel in Rafah and fired anti-tank rockets at Israeli forces.

Israeli forces responded with fire from helicopters, with two fighters killed in direct fire, while a third Palestinian allegedly attached an explosive device to an Israeli armored vehicle before fleeing back into the tunnel, the channel said.

The public broadcaster KAN said an Israeli helicopter attacked the area to which the third Palestinian fled.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas on the reports.

According to Israeli media reports, there are around 200 Hamas fighters who are trapped inside underground tunnels in Rafah, and Tel Aviv has not yet responded to demands by Hamas and mediators to allow them safe passage to areas under the group’s control.

Separately, the Israeli army claimed that it had killed more than 40 Palestinian fighters over the past week in operations targeting tunnels in the area under its control in Rafah.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call to clarify the crisis of the fighters trapped inside the Rafah tunnels.

According to Channel 12, Washington has attempted to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas in recent weeks to let the fighters surrender in exchange for amnesty and a “safe corridor” to an area under Hamas control or to a third country.

“The US administration viewed this as a potential model for disarming Hamas, and it did not appreciate Israel’s refusal to cooperate with this approach,” it added.

A fragile ceasefire agreement has been in place in Gaza since Oct. 10, mediated by Türkiye, Egypt, and Qatar, backed by the US.

Phase one of the ceasefire deal includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.

Israel has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured nearly 171,000 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023.