Hamas says 7 of its militants killed in Gaza tunnel collapse

Hamas confirmed on the Twitter account of its armed wing, Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, that Israeli forces “re-kidnap Palestinian Legislative Council member” Abu Tir.

“Four other Qassam members were rescued”, the statement added. It said the collapse occurred on Tuesday night as a result of heavy rain and it took two days to find the bodies and announce the deaths.

Eight militants were initially reported missing by a security source. “Three of them escaped in the first hour after the accident”, he said, using the “resistance” euphemism frequently invoked to describe what westerners would view as terrorism.

However, Israel says the tunnels could be used for attacks against it.

Israel accuses Hamas of digging tunnels along Gaza border with a view to carrying out attacks against its army.

A Palestinian youth crawls in a tunnel during a graduation ceremony for a training camp run by the Hamas movement January 29, 2015, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military checked into the residents’ reports of overnight banging noises but determined that there were no underground tunnels in that area, Channel 10 reported. Israel heavily bombed the tunnels, but not all were destroyed.

Last Saturday, a tunnel collapse killed a 30-year-old man, according to Hamas officials. Egypt, whose government is deeply hostile to Islamists, has taken steps to destroy a network of tunnels along its border with Gaza, mostly used for smuggling.

Egypt’s sole border with Gaza has also remained largely closed following the 2013 overthrow of the country’s president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, effectively trapping the 1.8 million Gazans into the territory.