Hamas militant killed in Gaza tunnel collapse

Hamas, a designated terrorist organization in both Israel and the U.S., controls the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Channel Ten had broadcast, last Friday, a long report on the fears of the Israeli settlers of the arrival of the tunnels from Gaza to the bottom of their homes.

Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Saturday that Egypt had flooded a number of tunnels in coordination with Israel and said that security cooperation with Egypt was “better than ever”.

 According to sources speaking to AFP, Mr. Eshtawi’s duties included the overseeing of the tunnel network that has in the past been used to store weapons and carry out attacks against Israel. The accident, which was first reported by Palestinian news agencies, occurred in a smuggling tunnel between Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and nearby Egypt. He stressed that their arduous efforts deterred Israel and represent a pressure card Hamas can use for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli sources familiar with the situation told Elaph that Israel has updated Egypt on the movements of the Islamic State affiliate in Sinai and provided Egypt with information on the group’s relations with Hamas. Al-Qassam Brigades have even showcased some of their capabilities in reports and documentaries on their website and on TV stations such as Al Jazeera and Al Mayadeen, revealing the fighters’ ability to directly target Israeli soldiers. “Even if Israel is able to uncover a tunnel, or two, or 10, they [the tunnels] run deep under Israel, beyond Gaza, into 1948 territory”. And on February 3rd a third tunnel collapsed.

According to Muheisen, another factor that could serve to prevent a new war is Hamas’ awareness of the ongoing suffering of the Gaza Strip’s roughly 1.9 million inhabitants.

Abu Hamza went on, “In any future confrontation, Israelis will be surprised by the strength and solidity of these tunnels, which can withstand Israeli shelling and concussion bombs fired by the Israeli aircraft or tanks”.

Israeli and the Egyptian army forces have launched a campaign to destroy the tunnels.

A Hamas operative was reportedly killed in Gaza on Monday in the third deadly tunnel collapse to occur in the coastal enclave in less than two weeks.