U.S. sees Rafah tunnels crisis as potential model for disarming Hamas

The Trump administration wants to use a crisis over Hamas militants who got "stuck" in tunnels behind Israeli lines in Gaza to develop a model for disarming the group, two U.S. officials with knowledge of the issue tell Axios.Why it matters: Convincing Hamas militants to lay down their weapons is the most sensitive issue in President Trump's Gaza peace plan. Israel is highly skeptical that Hamas will agree to disarm through diplomacy.Providing amnesty to Hamas fighters is also anathema to many in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right coalition.President Trump has said several times that if the group refuses to disarm, it will be destroyed by Israel, but his envoys want to find a solution without allowing the war to resume.Driving the news: There are dozens of Hamas militants hiding in tunnels on the Israeli side of the "yellow line," which separates the zones of control, particularly in the city of Rafah.Skirmishes between Israeli forces and these Hamas militants led to two major breakdowns in the ceasefire.Last week, the U.S. offered Hamas militants safe passage across the yellow line for 24 hours in hopes of avoiding a repeat of such clashes.Hamas didn't initially take up the offer, but the group came back later and said it was interested. At that point, though, the Israelis insisted the deadline had passed.The situation became even more complicated when hardliners both within and outside of Netanyahu's coalition criticized his intention to allow "safe passage" for Hamas militants. Behind the scenes: U.S. officials have been trying to bridge the divide over the last several days.Turkey's intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin, also joined the mediation efforts at the U.S. request, Turkish officials say. During those talks, the Trump administration gave Israel a proposal to resolve the Rafah crisis. It called for Hamas militants in the Rafah tunnels to surrender and hand over their weapons to a third party (Egypt, Qatar or Turkey). In return, Israel would grant amnesty to the militants provided they don't return to military activity. The Hamas militants would then be transferred from areas under Israeli control to areas under Hamas control, and the tunnels in which they operated would be destroyed.The intrigue: The U.S. officials said the Trump administration pitched the idea to Israel as a model for how Hamas could be disarmed peacefully."We want this to be a test case that could possibly be expanded later to other areas in Gaza. The Israeli position is maximalist as usual, but we are in the middle of negotiations," one U.S. official said.Another U.S. official said the Israeli side "needs to grow up" and not allow a tactical issue like the crisis in Rafah to undermine a strategic issue like the Gaza agreement. The other side: A senior Israeli official noted Israel is engaging with the U.S. but doesn't currently agree to all of the elements of the proposal."Some of the Hamas militants in the Rafah tunnels are murderers. They cannot be granted amnesty. They can either be killed or surrender and be detained by the IDF," the Israeli official said.Israeli officials said that one of their conditions to allow "safe passage" for some Hamas militants is that the group return the body of Israel Defense Forces officer Hadar Goldin, which has been held in Gaza for more than 11 years. State of play: On Wednesday, Kalin met in Istanbul with a delegation of senior Hamas officials led by the group's political leader in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya."During the meeting, the two delegations exchanged views on the steps necessary to ensure the sound functioning of the ceasefire process and to address existing problems. They also held consultations on possible ways to implement the next phases of the ceasefire plan," a Turkish security official said. A Hamas official told the group's Al-Aqsa TV network that negotiations are still underway through mediators and accused Israel of "stalling."

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