ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Hamas on Sunday blamed Israel for clashes in Rafah, two days after Israel’s military chief said that there will be “no deal” for some 200 Hamas fighters caught in tunnels in the city.

The development comes as a fragile ceasefire holds between the two foes, with both sides having repeatedly accused one another of violating the truce a month into its implementation.

Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military’s Chief of the General Staff, told the security cabinet on Friday that no agreement will be reached in regard to 200 Hamas fighters trapped in Rafah tunnels, a day after a Reuters report suggested that mediators had proposed a deal to get the fighters out of Rafah.

“The occupation bears full responsibility for the clashes with our fighters in Rafah, who are defending themselves within an area under its control,” The Palestinian group wrote in a statement.

“We hold the mediators accountable and urge them to find a solution to ensure the continuation of the ceasefire and prevent the enemy from using flimsy pretexts to violate it and exploit it to target innocent civilians in Gaza,” Hamas added.

Zamir had said earlier in the week that the fighters’ release would only be possible in exchange for the remains of Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier whose body has been held by Hamas since 2014. Hamas said that it will hand over Goldin’s remains on Sunday afternoon, claiming that his body was found on Saturday.

The agreement, reached on October 10, came after two years of sustained conflict in the region. According to Gaza's health ministry, the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip has resulted in the deaths of over 67,000 people, the majority of whom are civilians.