At least seven men were killed and another 12 injured on Monday when the Israeli army blew up an attack tunnel stretching from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said in the deadliest incident in the coastal enclave since the 2014 Gaza war.
Israel’s Chanel 2 put the death toll at 11, but this was not confirmed by Hamas officials.
“The explosion took place inside Israeli territory. The majority of the dead were activists that entered the tunnel after it was exploded and died in the Gaza Strip, and not as a result of the explosion,” said an IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee
The IDF said the terror tunnel was discovered inside Israeli territory near the Gaza Strip and is believed to have been dug after 2014. The tunnel was being built by the Islamic Jihad terror group. It ran from the Gazan city of Khan Younis, crossed under the border for dozens of meters, and approached Kibbutz Kissufim.
The incident significantly raised tensions in the region, with leaders of the different Palestinian terror groups meeting in Gaza in a bid to formulate a response.
Israel deployed its Iron Dome rocket interceptors in the area and declared a closed military zone near the Gaza border in case the Palestinians tried to respond with rocket fire.
“We are not interested in an escalation but we are ready for all scenarios” Adraee said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Monday hailed the IDF for destroying an attack tunnel from the Gaza Strip discovered near a kibbutz inside Israeli territory, with the two leaders attributing its discovery to Israel’s new “breakthrough technology.”
In remarks at the weekly Likud faction meeting, the prime minister said the long-rumored advanced technology to locate the attack tunnels had been utilized in the recent operation.
“I told you many times before that we are developing breakthrough technology to deal with the tunnel threat,” said Netanyahu at the start of the meeting. “We are implementing it. Today, we located a tunnel and we destroyed it.”
The prime minister said Israel holds Hamas responsible for all military action against Israel emanating from the Gaza Strip and “whoever hurts us, we hurt them.”
Also hailing the “breakthrough technology,” Liberman warned that Israel would not tolerate incursions on its territory, while stressing that Israel was not seeking renewed conflict with Gazan terror groups.
“Our enemies do not rest from their attempts to hurt the citizens of Israel. The IDF has learned from Operation Protective Edge and is using its intelligence, technology, engineering and operational abilities to stop such attempts and ensure the security of those living near Gaza. The neutralized tunnel is no longer a threat to the residents of the region,” said Bennett.
The tunnel, which the IDF described as a “grave and unacceptable violation of Israeli sovereignty,” started in Khan Younis, crossing under the border and approaching Kibbutz Kissufim, the army said.
The tunnel was discovered by a new, advanced piece of technology that was being used for the first time, Conricus told reporters. He would not specify what type of equipment was used.
It was the third such tunnel that the military has said it’s destroyed since the 2014 Gaza war, known in Israel as Operation Protective Edge. However, the first two tunnels, which were demolished last year, were believed to be leftovers from the 2014 conflict, whereas the tunnel that was detonated on Monday was “in progress,” according to Conricus
Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah on Monday accused Israel of trying to foil ongoing unity efforts between them after the Israeli army blew up an attack tunnel stretching from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, killing at least seven people inside.
The IDF on Monday said it “neutralized a terror tunnel” that was discovered inside Israeli territory near the Gaza Strip and is believed to have been dug after 2014. The tunnel was being built by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.
The blast killed at least five members of Islamic Jihad’s military wing, including a senior commander and his deputy, and two members of Hamas’s military wing died in rescue efforts. At least 12 others were injured, Gaza’s health ministry said.
The IDF said the tunnel was “detonated from within Israel, adjacent to the security fence.” It was not immediately clear where the deceased members of the terror groups were when the tunnel was detonated, though many reports said the Islamic Jihad terrorists were inside, and the two Hamas fatalities died of gas inhalation when coming to their rescue.
In a statement, Hamas called the Israeli measure “a desperate attempt to sabotage efforts to restore Palestinian unity and maintain the state of division.
“This crime comes in the context of [sowing confusion] and creating tension in the atmosphere in order to thwart the Palestinian national reconciliation,” he said, in a statement carried in the official PA news outlet Wafa.
Abu Eita said that despite the incident, the Palestinians would push ahead with the unity plan.
Iran on Monday condemned Israel as “bloodthirsty” after the Israel Defense Forces blew up an attack tunnel stretching from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, killing seven people, including two commanders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.
“The bloodthirsty Zionist regime is trying to bend the will of the oppressed people of the occupied territories to guarantee its security by killing Palestinian youths,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bahram Qassemi said, according to the Iranian Tasnim news agency.
“This is while seven decades of crimes, bloodshed and child-killing could not weaken the determination of this patient and courageous people at all,” he added.
The IDF on Monday said it “neutralized a terror tunnel” that was discovered inside Israeli territory near the Gaza Strip and is believed to have been dug after 2014. The tunnel was being built by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group.
The blast killed at least five members of Islamic Jihad’s military wing, including a senior commander and his deputy, and two members of Hamas’s military wing died in rescue efforts. At least 12 others were injured, Gaza’s health ministry said. Many reports said the terrorists were killed inside the tunnel, though this was not definitively clear.
The statement from Iran came days after a Hamas delegation visited Tehran and officials in the Iranian regime praised the Gaza rulers for not abandoning its armed struggle against Israel.
The IDF said the tunnel was “detonated from within Israel, adjacent to the security fence.”
Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah earlier on Monday accused Israel of trying to foil ongoing unity efforts between them in destroying the tunnel.
In a statement, Hamas called the Israeli measure “a desperate attempt to sabotage efforts to restore Palestinian unity and maintain the state of division.”
'Iran blasts 'bloodthirsty' Israel after terror tunnel destroyed'
ReplyDeleteIsn't that just terrible! Those pesky Jews.
Hopefully you caught the sarcasm.
Israel trying to defend themselves from invading terrorists seems most reasonable to me.
The irony is rich indeed
ReplyDeleteYes, Israel must show restraint! Oy! (added intended sarcasm)
ReplyDelete