JERUSALEM— The Israeli army said Sunday that it had killed more than 40 Palestinian militants over the past week in operations targeting tunnels near Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier in the day, the army announced it had killed four militants emerging from underground in the territory’s southernmost city overnight.

Dozens of Hamas fighters are holed up in southern Gaza’s tunnels, beneath areas controlled by the Israeli military.

Over the past 40 days, troops have been concentrating their efforts around eastern Rafah, “with the aim of dismantling the underground tunnel routes that remain in the area and bringing about the elimination of the terrorists hiding out within them”, the military said in a statement.

It added that “more than 40 terrorists were eliminated” in the last week.

“Additionally, dozens of tunnel shafts and terrorist infrastructure sites, both above and below ground, were dismantled in the area.”

Multiple sources told AFP on Thursday that negotiations were under way regarding the fate of the fighters still in south Gaza’s tunnel network.

On Wednesday, Hamas called on mediating countries to pressure Israel to allow them safe passage — the first time the Islamist group had publicly acknowledged the situation.