Seven die in Gaza tunnel strike
Israel bombs hidden paths used by terrorists
GAzA CIty: Seven Palestinians were killed as Israel blew up what it said was a tunnel stretching from the Gaza Strip into its territory, a rare case of such an incident since a devastating 2014 war.
Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the Hamas-led Gazan health ministry, confirmed seven men had been killed, with a further 12 injured.
Two came from Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, while the other five were from the Hamas-allied militant group Islamic Jihad, the two groups confirmed.
The deaths were announced after Israel “neutralised a terror tunnel leading into southern Israel,” military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said
“The tunnel was detonated from within Israel, close to the security fence.”
Tunnels dug by Gaza’s rulers Hamas were a key issue in the last war with Israel in 2014, but discoveries of those stretching into the Jewish state have since been rare.
Hamas called Monday’s incident “a dangerous escalation against our people”.
It did not pledge a specific response but said “resisting the occupation is a natural and guaranteed right for our people”.
Islamic Jihad said in a statement that the tunnels were “part of the policy of deterrence to defend the Palestinian people”.
Conricus said the Israeli military was not seeking further escalation.
He said the tunnel was targeted around two kilometres from the Israeli village of Kissufim, but added that no Israelis were in danger.
It was still being dug and no opening was found in Israeli territory, he said.
The military had been monitoring it for “some time”, Conricus said.
In April 2016, Israel’s military said it had located and destroyed a tunnel extending from the Gaza Strip into Israel in the first such discovery since the 2014 conflict.
Hamas forces have used tunnels in the past to enter Israel and carry out attacks.
“We are developing breakthrough technology to deal with the tunnel threat,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.