Israel says killed four militants exiting tunnel in Gaza’s Rafah

A boy looks at tents sheltering Palestinians displaced by conflict pitched by destroyed and heavily-damaged buildings in the Muqusi area of Gaza City on February 7, 2026. (AFP)

• It said the attack on its troops was a violation of the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said it killed four suspected militants who attacked its troops as the armed men emerged from a tunnel in southern Gaza on Monday, calling the group’s actions a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire.
Despite a US-brokered truce entering its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Gaza Strip, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of breaching the agreement.
“A short while ago, four armed terrorists exited an underground tunnel shaft and fired toward soldiers in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip.... Following identification, the troops eliminated the terrorists,” the military said in a statement.
It said none of its troops had been injured in the attack, which it called a “blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement” between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli troops “are continuing to operate in the area to locate and eliminate all the terrorists within the underground tunnel route,” the military added.
Gaza health officials have said Israeli air strikes last Wednesday killed 24 people, with Israel’s military saying the attacks were in response to one of its officers being wounded by enemy gunfire.
That wave of strikes came after Israel partly reopened the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on February 2, the only gateway to the Palestinian territory that does not pass through Israel.
Israeli forces seized control of the crossing in May 2024 during the war with Hamas, and it had remained largely closed since.
Around 180 Palestinians have left the Gaza Strip since Rafah’s limited reopening, according to officials in the territory.
Israel has so far restricted passage to patients and their accompanying relatives.
The second phase of the Gaza ceasefire foresees a demilitarization of the territory — including the disarmament of Hamas — along with a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Hamas has repeatedly said that disarmament is a red line, although it has indicated it could consider handing over its weapons to a future Palestinian governing authority.
Israeli officials say Hamas still has around 20,000 fighters and about 60,000 Kalashnikovs in Gaza.
A Palestinian technocratic committee has been set up with a goal of taking over day-to-day governance in the strip, but it remains unclear whether, or how, it will address the issue of demilitarization.