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Two Hamas operatives killed in Gaza tunnel collapse

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Two members of Hamas’s military wing were confirmed to have been killed when a tunnel they were rebuilding, to facilitate an attack on Israel, collapsed in the Gaza Strip yesterday.

The tunnel was being constructed near Braij in central Gaza. Ashraf Alqudra, Palestinian ministry of health spokesman and Hamas official, said that 23-year-old Ahmad Haidar Al-Zahar was one of two killed in what he described as an “accident.” The other is reported to be Hamas tunnel engineer Fuad Ashour Abu Otaiwi. Three others are reported missing, presumed dead and several others injured. Yesterday’s tunnel collapse follows a similar incident last week in which eight Hamas operatives were killed after the tunnel they were building collapsed due to inclement weather.

The tunnel collapses have strengthened Israeli fears that Hamas is successfully rebuilding the sophisticated network of tunnels which was a major feature of Operation Protective Edge in summer 2014. Not only did the tunnels enable Hamas leaders and operatives to evade capture, but they were a launching pad for deadly attacks on Israelis. 11 Israeli soldiers died during the conflict in Israeli territory, having been ambushed by gunmen emerging from the tunnels, which also threatened civilians in Israel’s Gaza border communities. Israel destroyed at least 30 tunnels during the operation, but some assessments say that Hamas has rebuilt them to a similar level.

Hamas’s leader in Gaza Ismael Haniyeh last week confirmed that Hamas is reconstructing the tunnel network saying, “There are heroes east of Gaza City, digging the rocks and building tunnels.” Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a stern warning last week, saying, “If we are attacked from the tunnels in the Gaza Strip we will respond… with much greater force then we used during Operation Protective Edge.”

It was reported yesterday in Yediot Ahronot that the United States has agreed to invest around £18 million in an Israeli tunnel detection system, which will effectively locate Hamas underground digging and enable the tunnels to be destroyed.