Israel faces the explosive "Janina Dilemma": allow roughly 200 battle‑hardened Hamas gunmen trapped in Rafah’s tunnel network to slip back into Gaza via safe corridors potentially securing progress on hostage‑remains talks or launch a strike to kill them and risk Trump's rage.
As a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza teeters on the edge of collapse, Israel is grappling with a high-stakes moral and strategic quandary dubbed the "Janina Dilemma" by security analysts: whether to grant safe passage to approximately 200 Hamas terrorists trapped deep in Israeli-controlled territory in southern Gaza's Rafah area, or to launch a targeted operation to eliminate them.
The terrorists are believed to be hiding in underground tunnels beyond the so-called "yellow line", the demarcation separating Israeli-held zones (about 53% of Gaza) from Hamas-controlled areas. Some of them are reportedly unaware of the October 10 ceasefire agreement and have launched recent attacks that killed three IDF soldiers.
No final decision has been reached, but Israeli security sources indicate a growing inclination to allow them, without weapons, to cross back into Hamasterritory via secure corridors, potentially using Red Cross vehicles, to avoid derailing ongoing hostage remains negotiations. Hamas has disavowed the group but is now pressing mediators for their return, framing it as a humanitarian gesture tied to fulfilling ceasefire obligations, including the handover of deceased hostages' bodies.
...Over the past two weeks, they emerged to fire RPGs and sniper rounds at IDF troops, killing three soldiers in separate incidents east of the yellow line. Under ceasefire terms, Israel retains full operational authority in its zones, including the right to strike threats without prior warning. (Read More)
