7 die as Israel blows up Gaza tunnel
HAMAS TERMS MONDAY’S INCIDENT ‘A DANGEROUS ESCALATION AGAINST OUR PEOPLE’
Operation comes as Hamas and Fatah seek to follow through on a reconciliation deal signed last month |
Seven Palestinians were killed on Monday 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 group Islamic Jihad, the two groups confirmed.
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”.
‘Policy of deterrence’
Islamic Jihad said in a statement that the tunnels were “part of the policy of deterrence to defend the Palestinian people”.
Monday’s operation came as Palestinian rival factions Hamas and Fatah seek to follow through on a reconciliation deal signed last month aimed at ending a decade-long rift between them.
Hamas is due to hand control of the Gaza Strip back to the Palestinian National Authority by December 1 under the agreement.
Besides calling it an escalation, Hamas said the Israeli operation was “a desperate attempt which aims to undermine efforts to rebuild Palestinian unity”.
Tunnels dug by 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.