Hamas fighters are avoiding decisive battles with the Israeli military in Gaza’s southern Rafah city, where Israeli forces have found few of the Palestinian group’s units above ground, Al Jazeera reports quoting the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP).

Hamas fighters are remaining in combat tunnel networks in Rafah, while remotely detonating buildings in the city that were “rigged to explode prior to the arrival of Israeli forces”, the US-based think tanks report in their latest battlefield update.

“The use of prepared explosively rigged buildings and tunnels suggests that Hamas’ units in Rafah prepared to preserve their strength by avoiding direct engagements,” the ISW/CTP said in their joint report.