Two Palestinians were killed and five were injured during a reported airstrike on a smuggling tunnel between Egypt and Gaza on Wednesday night, official Palestinian sources said. Gaza Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said on Thursday that Hussam Hamid al-Sufi, 24, from the town of Rafah, and Muhammad Anwar al-Aqraa, a 38-year-old resident of Gaza City, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, while five other Palestinians were injured. An Israeli army spokesperson however denied to Ma’an that the army was involved in the reported strike. However, Israeli media stated that the alleged tunnel attack came in the wake of four rockets being fired from the blockaded Palestinian territory towards the southern Israeli city of Eilat. No casualties were reported in the incident. The casualties came in the wake of multiple airstrikes launched by the Israeli army inside the Gaza Strip on Monday which injured two Palestinians, after a rocket that landed in an open area in the ...

A member of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, was killed in Gaza on Saturday after an underground tunnel collapsed on him. According to a statement released by the Brigades, Anas Salameh Abu Lashin from al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip was killed in the tunnel collapse. A number of Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in the vast tunnel networks that lie below the besieged enclave, which are largely used for smuggling in the south and military purposes in the north. In April and May, Israeli forces claimed to have uncovered the first two tunnels crossing from the Gaza Strip into Israel since Israel's devastating offensive on Gaza in 2014. Israeli officials have accused Hamas of "preparing" for another war with Israel and have threatened retaliatory measures against the Gaza Strip as a whole. However, despite Hamas' inflammatory rhetoric against Israel, the movement has not officially claimed responsibility f...

Eight Palestinians were injured when a tunnel collapsed in the al-Shujayya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, local sources told Ma’an. They were taken to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to be treated for light to moderate injuries, according to Gaza Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra. The incident came after three Palestinians died over recent weeks in tunnel collapse accidents in the Gaza Strip. On Saturday, a member of Hamas' military wing the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades was killed, and in mid-July, two members of the Islamic Jihad were killed in separate incidents. more

It was a warm night in Jabaliya, northeast of Gaza City. Abu Zein and his wife were fast asleep when what the couple first thought was an earthquake shook their bed so hard, its legs buckled. They immediately jumped up and ran out of the home they had only recently moved into after getting married. But outside was quiet. No one was stirring, no damage was visible, the ground stayed still. The only movement came from the shadows where a couple of fighters with the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, emerged to ask the couple what had happened. When Abu Zein — who did not want to give his real name for this article out of concern for his safety — told them, the fighters promised to repair any damage in the couple’s house. The next day, a man turned up with tools to repair the damage to the floor and money as compensation for the damaged furniture. Land of layers Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza have long used underground tunnels as an integral part of their military t...

Israeli forces have uncovered and destroyed a tunnel passing from the Gaza Strip into Israel -- the first to be found since Israel's devastating military offensive on the coastal enclave in 2014. The Israeli army on Monday lifted a gag order on the discovery of the tunnel earlier this week. An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed to Ma'an the tunnel had been found and destroyed on both sides of the border. Reaching 30 meters deep at certain points, the tunnel reportedly extended from the southeast of the Gaza Strip, crossing the border to where Israeli military bases and towns are located. Israeli army spokesperson Peter Lerner said in a statement: "The ugly truth is that Hamas continues to invest millions of dollars to build tunnels of terror and death. The tunnel uncovered in Israel demonstrates once more Hamas' warped priorities and continued commitment and investment in tools of violence." The Coordinator of Israeli Government's Activities in the Palest...

Seven Palestinians were rescued during a search operation in the Gaza Strip’s Rafah city on Thursday after Egyptian authorities allegedly flooded a tunnel where workers were present, Palestinian security sources said. While seven workers were rescued from the tunnel, Gazan authorities are still looking for one more worker thought to be stuck inside the tunnel. Palestinian security sources said the tunnel was flooded when Egyptian authorities pumped seawater into the structure. Last month, Egyptian authorities destroyed another tunnel on the border of the Gaza Strip, with no injuries reported. Palestinians in Gaza have relied on underground smuggling tunnels across the Egyptian border since 2007 when Israel imposed a military blockade on the coastal enclave after Hamas took control there. The tunnels have since provided a vital lifeline for the besieged territory's more than 1.8 million residents. However, Egypt has destroyed and flooded hundreds of the tunnels as part of an o...

GAZA (Ma’an) -- A Palestinian worker died when a smuggling tunnel collapsed between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Monday. Palestinian sources told Ma’an that the man, identified only by his initials “M.M”, was a 24-year-old Palestinian from the village of Khirbet al-Aadas north of Rafah. M.M. died when the tunnel near the border town of Rafah collapsed. Gaza's tunnel networks are notoriously dangerous. The Institute for Palestine Studies reported in 2012 that Hamas authorities had counted 160 deaths inside the tunnels since the Israeli blockade began in 2007, and in August 2014, al-Jazeera reported that figure to be as high as 400. While the tunnels are used by the Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip as a source of tax revenue and inflow of weapons, they also supply highly-demanded necessities for the 1.8 million residents of the besieged Palestinian territory, including food, medicine, as well as infrastructure materials like concrete and fuel. more

Hamas’ military wing announced on social media on Thursday that seven of its fighters were killed when a tunnel collapsed in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. "Al-Qassam Brigades mourn the death of 7 Qassam members who were (killed) during their work inside a resistance tunnels in Gaza," the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades posted on their Twitter account on Thursday morning. The group identified those who died in the tunnel as Thabet al-Rifi, Ghazwan al-Shubaki, Izz al-Din Qassem, Wassim Hassouneh, Mahmoud Basal, Nidal Odeh, and Jaafar Hamadeh. Hamas security sources had previously said in a statement that more than 10 fighters were in a tunnel when it collapsed due to heavy rain on Tuesday. The Qassam Brigades said the fighters had been working on rebuilding the tunnel at the time of the accident. br> The fate of the remaining fighters was still unspecified. more

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Gazan Civil Defense rescue teams on Tuesday morning were battling to save the lives of 14 Palestinians who went missing inside a smuggling tunnel when Egyptian military forces flooded it with seawater. Muhammad al-Meidana, a Civil Defense official, told Ma'an that rescue teams had been able to save the lives of seven tunnel workers, but that contact was lost with 14 others, who were now missing. Initial reports that the Civil Defense had established contact with these 14 workers turned out to be false. Smuggling tunnels that pass beneath the Egyptian border have served as a lifeline to the outside world for Gaza's 1.8 million inhabitants since Israel imposed a crippling siege on the coastal enclave in 2007, which is supported by Egypt. While the tunnels are used by Hamas as a source of tax revenue and inflow of weapons, they also supply necessary goods for Gazans including food, medicine, as well as infrastructure materials including concrete and fu...

?Egyptian army forces shot and injured three Palestinians in a smuggling tunnel under the city of Rafah in southern Gaza on Thursday. Egyptian soldiers entered the tunnel under the border city and opened fire at Palestinian workers, injuring three, locals said. The victims were taken to hospital for treatment. Earlier this week, Egypt detained three Palestinians after blowing up a tunnel under the shared border. The Palestinians were initially reported missing after the explosion. Smuggling tunnels that pass beneath the Egyptian border have served as a lifeline to the outside world for Gaza's 1.8 million inhabitants since Israel imposed a crippling siege on the coastal enclave in 2007, which is supported by Egypt. more

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, has reported that one of its fighters was killed, Monday, while working in one of its border tunnels. In a press release, the al-Qassam said Majed Sakani, from Shejaeyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, died while working in the tunnel. On Saturday, August 29, the Al-Qassam Brigades said one of its fighters was killed in a tunnel accident, in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Dozens of Palestinians not affiliated with Hamas or other armed resistance groups, have been killed and injured in tunnel accidents, while working to provide food for their families in the impoverished and besieged coastal region. more

CAIRO (Ma'an) -- Egyptian forces on Saturday discovered and destroyed a 1.5 kilometer smuggling tunnel beneath the Gazan border, the Egyptian army said. Egyptian security sources told Ma'an that the tunnel was found by Egyptian border guards in the Dayniya area south of Rafah. They said that eight sacks of explosive TNT material and a half-ton of C-4 -- another explosive material -- had been found inside the tunnel. Both the tunnel and the explosive material were destroyed by the army. Smuggling tunnels have served as a lifeline to the outside world for Gaza's 1.8 million inhabitants since Israel imposed a crippling siege on the coastal enclave in 2007, which is supported by Egypt. While the tunnels are used by Hamas as a source of tax revenue and inflow of weapons, they also supply highly-demanded necessities for Gazans including food, medicine, as well as infrastructure materials including concrete and fuel. Egypt has sought to destroy the tunnels as part of an ongo...

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Seven Palestinian workers narrowly escaped death after a smuggling tunnel collapsed beneath the southern Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, sources told Ma'an. Sources said that Palestinian Civil Defense rescue teams had managed to pull out the workers who were trapped under rubble after the tunnel collapsed while they were inside it. Smuggling tunnels that pass beneath the Egyptian border have served as a lifeline to the outside world for Gaza's 1.8 million inhabitants since Israel imposed a crippling siege on the coastal enclave in 2007, which is supported by Egypt. While the tunnels are used by Hamas as a source of tax revenue and inflow of weapons, they also supply highly-demanded necessities for Gazans including food, medicine, as well as infrastructure materials including concrete and fuel. At the the tunnel economy's height, in 2010, the Peace Research Institute Oslo estimated that as many as 15,000 workers and 25,000 traders were involved in the...

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A member of Hamas' military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, died on Friday while working in a tunnel to be used for military activities, Hamas said. Issam Omar al-Kattani, from the Shujaiyeh neighborhood, died while working inside a "resistance tunnel," the brigades said in a statement, without adding any further details. A member of Hamas' politburo, Khalil al-Hayya, said at al-Kattani's funeral procession that the "soldiers of al-Qassam brigades will continue to build more tunnels which have become the greatest weapon to defeat the occupation." A spokesman for the Gaza health ministry told AFP that two others were "moderately injured" in the tunnel collapse. more

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The military wing of Hamas, al-Qassam Brigades, said Monday evening that a fighter affiliated to the group had been killed in a tunnel collapse in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. Al-Qassam Brigades identified the fighter as 25-year-old Mahmoud Adel Ghaban from Beit Lahiya. A number of fighters in Gaza have been killed by accidents during military training exercises in recent years, and the tunnel networks, which are largely used for smuggling in the coastal enclave's south and military purposes in the north, are notoriously dangerous. more

Hamas' military wing Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades said that one of their fighters died in a tunnel collapse on Saturday in the northern Gaza Strip. In a statement the Brigades identified the fighter as Nihad Awad Khleif, 30, from Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. A number of fighters in Gaza have been killed by accidents during military training exercises in recent years, and the tunnel networks, which are largely used for smuggling in the coastal enclave's south and for military purposes in the north, are notoriously dangerous. The Institute for Palestine Studies reported in 2012 that Hamas authorities had counted 160 deaths inside the tunnels since the Israeli blockade began in 2007, and in August 2014, Al-Jazeera reported that figure to be as high as 400. more

A Palestinian worker died on Monday when a tunnel collapsed in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a health official said. A Ministry of Health spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra told Ma'an that Muhammad Khalid al-Najjar, 27, was killed in the incident. His body has been taken to the Abu Youssef al-Najjar hospital. Last week, Ahmad Majed Salim al-Saqqa, 19, from Khan Younis died after he was electrocuted in a tunnel beneath Rafah, while another Palestinian from Khan Younis, Ibrahim Fathi Isleih, 21, died a week before in similar circumstances. The smuggling tunnels are notoriously dangerous, and workers are frequently killed working inside them. The Institute for Palestine Studies reported in 2012 that Hamas authorities had counted 160 deaths inside the tunnels since the Israeli blockade began. more

Israeli defense company Elbit Systems developed a sensor-based tunnel detection system to be implemented alongside the entirety of the Gaza border, Israeli media reports. The new detection system is designed to block infiltration of "Hamas terrorists" into Israel, by enabling the identification of tunnel building activity and its location without false alarms, Israeli news site Ynet reported. Ynet cited Alon Shuster, head of the Shaar HaNegev regional council, who praised the Israeli defense ministry for such headway. "From what we know, these are the fruits of that labor. There is no doubt that the aggressive operations this past summer limited the threat in a significant way for Israel and this advancement gives an additional layer of security for the residents," he said to Ynet. While the system is designed to prevent attacks by militant groups inside Gaza by targeting the many tunnels snaking under the Israel Gaza border, destroying such tunnels also means...

A Palestinian was injured when Egyptian army forces open fire on him using live rounds on the Gazan border on Tuesday, security sources said. Sources said the Palestinian was shot in the left shoulder by Egyptian forces as he emerged from a tunnel leading into Egypt. Sources added that he has since arrived at Rafah Public Hospital for treatment. Egypt helps maintain an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip that has been in place since 2007. The blockade has led to frequent humanitarian crises and hardship for Gazans. In February, Egyptian forces opened fired on Palestinian military posts inside Gaza near the border fence, and in January, a Palestinian fisherman was shot in the stomach after he entered Egyptian territorial waters near Sinai. Egypt accuses Hamas of supporting anti-government militant groups operating in the northern Sinai, and has gone to great efforts to create a 1 km-wide buffer zone along the border. Hamas, which denies Egyptian accusations, has suffered poor rela...

From the Guardian - The arrest of three Israelis accused of shipping huge amounts of scrap metal to Gaza – allegedly used by Hamas in rocket-making workshops – has raised embarrassing questions over Israeli supervision of exports to Gaza. The news of the arrests of the three men – two of whom worked for a scrap metal business – was followed by the disclosure that Israeli security officials had warned two of the men almost a year ago over their activities. About 50,000 tonnes of metal, and other dual-use materials that the Shin Bet security service has said could be used in tunnel building, was shipped via the Kerem Shalom border crossing. Three Jewish Israelis and six Palestinians appeared in court earlier this week charged with assisting an enemy in wartime, terror financing and fraud. The remaining members of the group were said to be Palestinians from Gaza although it was not clear how they came to be arrested. more