The Israeli army stated on Monday that it had eliminated four armed militants who emerged from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip and attacked soldiers, LETA reported citing AFP.
"Some time ago, four armed terrorists emerged from an underground tunnel shaft and opened fire on soldiers in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip (...) After their identification, the soldiers eliminated these terrorists," the army said in a statement regarding the incident.
The Israeli army reported that no soldiers were injured as a result of this attack, which the army called a "flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement."
Israeli military forces "continue to operate in this area to detect and eliminate all terrorists along the tunnel route," the army added.
The military wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas — the "Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades" — characterized this incident as "heroic resistance."
The militants "rejected humiliation and submission in the besieged Rafah valley and chose martyrdom over surrender," the statement from the "Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades" said.
At the end of November, Hamas stated that dozens of militants were hiding in tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip beneath areas controlled by the Israeli army.
Israel insisted that these militants pose a security threat, while Hamas sought to ensure their safe exit from the tunnels.
Many of these militants were later killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers during operations against the tunnels near Rafah.
