Some 15 Hamas terror group operatives emerged from tunnels on Friday at two separate locations in eastern Rafah, an area in southern Gaza controlled by Israel, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The Israeli Air Force, with information provided by ground troops, struck and killed six of the Hamas operatives who emerged, the IDF said, sharing a video of the strikes.

Troops of the Nahal Brigade captured five of the Hamas operatives who surrendered to them, the military said, adding that they were taken to Israel to be questioned by the Shin Bet.

A photo published by the military showed four of the operatives in IDF custody, hands tied behind their backs, next to an armoured vehicle.

In a subsequent statement, the IDF said that the chief of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, the commander of the Gaza Division, Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram and additional officers conducted an assessment on the ground and approved future plans surrounding the incident.

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Footage released by the IDF showed the gunmen’s attempts to escape from the tunnels.

The IDF said it was continuing to scan the area, both from the air and on the ground, to locate the other gunmen who had emerged from the tunnels.


Four of five Palestinian terror operatives who were captured by IDF troops in southern Gaza’s Rafah on November 21, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

It was the latest in a series of violent incidents this week, despite an October ceasefire deal. The agreement was limited in scope, but presented by the US and Israel as the first stage in a long-term peace plan that would see Hamas disarmed and Gaza demilitarized.

Since the truce went into effect, Israel Defense Forces troops have been repeatedly attacked, which Israel has responded to with airstrikes on Hamas targets, in some cases killing senior commanders and operatives involved in holding Israeli hostages.

Three IDF soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire took effect, in attacks carried out by terror operatives trapped in the Rafah area.

According to the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry, 312 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in that time.

Dozens of Hamas operatives are estimated to be holed up in tunnels in the Rafah area, on the Israeli side of the so-called “Yellow Line” separating Gaza in accordance with the October ceasefire agreement.

The US has pressured Israel to allow them safe passage back to Hamas-held areas of Gaza, though Jerusalem has not agreed.

The IDF has been conducting a “concentrated effort” in Rafah to “destroy the remaining underground routes in the area and eliminate the terrorists residing in them,” it said Friday.

Last week, the IDF said it killed three or four Hamas operatives who emerged from the tunnels in the same area.

Sa’ar, Levin, Smotrich and Ben Gvir to reportedly oversee truce

According to the Kan public broadcaster, the security cabinet voted Thursday night to form a team of ministers who will oversee the implementation of the second stage of the ceasefire deal.

The team will be made up of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the report said.

The latter two, both heads of far-right parties, voted against the deal.


Left: National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, January 16, 2025; Right: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, January 13, 2025. (Both photos by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The second stage of the deal is meant to begin after all hostages are freed. Hamas is still holding the bodies of three deceased hostages.

No firm timeline has been put on the next stages of the plan, but the Trump administration is working to set up an international security force with troops from Arab and Muslim nations to police the truce as part of its second stage, which also includes the disarmament of Hamas.

Doctors Without Borders says kids treated for gunshot wounds

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Friday that its medical teams in Gaza had treated Palestinian women and children this week for injuries from Israeli airstrikes and gunfire.

Since Wednesday, medical staff in northern and southern Gaza have treated women and children with open fractures and gunshot wounds to their limbs and heads. Wednesday is when Israel, following an attack on troops, carried out a wave of airstrikes, and then some further strikes on Thursday.


Smoke rises following an Israeli military bombardment east of Nuseirat, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, on November 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

MSF said that medical care has been provided in hospitals and clinics in Gaza City in the north and Rafah in the south. The charity cited a nurse in Gaza who said a nine-year-old girl was treated at a Gaza City hospital for an injury to her face caused by gunfire from an Israeli drone.

The United Nations children’s agency said on Friday that at least 67 children — which it defines as anyone under 18 — have been killed in what it called conflict-related incidents since the ceasefire went into effect.

UNICEF said on Thursday that a baby girl was killed in an airstrike in eastern Khan Younis in southern Gaza, alongside her parents. On Wednesday, seven children were killed in airstrikes in Gaza City and the south, UNICEF said.

The IDF had no immediate comment on the incident. Israel maintains that it never targets civilians and always fights in accordance with international law.

UN food program says aid supply still insufficient

Also Friday, the UN World Food Program said that more food supplies are getting into Gaza since the ceasefire went into effect, but are still falling short of huge humanitarian needs as winter rains risk spoiling delivered foodstuffs.

“Things are better than before the ceasefire, but we have a long way to go. Sustained support is an important endeavor to help families rebuild their health, their nutrition, and their lives,” WFP spokesperson Martin Penner told reporters in Geneva via video link from the Strip.


Palestinians grab sacks of flour from a moving truck carrying World Food Programme aid as it drives through Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, November 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Hundreds of thousands of people remain in urgent need of food assistance, according to the WFP. In August, a global food monitor said at least half a million people were experiencing famine in parts of the coastal enclave, though analysts say updated data shows the claim was likely inflated.

Earlier this week, Gaza was hit by heavy rain that spoiled and washed away some food supplies that residents had been storing, senior WFP spokeswoman Abeer Etefa said. It was a sign of the challenges for families as winter sets in, she added.

Though Gaza’s markets are reviving, food prices remain high for Palestinians, many of whom lost their income during the war, with a chicken costing $25, meaning many are reliant on food aid, the WFP said.