‘Israel’ Bombs Gaza Tunnel, 7 Palestinians Martyred, 12 Wounded

Local Editor

At least seven Palestinians were martyred, and 12 others were wounded after ‘Israeli' forces blew up an underground tunnel between the Gaza Strip and the ‘Israeli'-occupied territories on Monday.

The Palestinian Health Ministry officially declared the martyrdom of seven Palestinians, all fighters in the armed wings of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad resistance movements in Gaza.

The martyred fighters were identified as Hussam Abdullah al-Sumairi, 32, Muhammad Marwan Al-Agha, 22, Ahmad Khalil Abu Armaneh, 25, Omar Nassar al-Falit, 27, Hassan Aaba Hassanein, Mesbah Fayek Shbeir, and Arafat Abu Morshed.

Relatively, the Palestinian Civil Defense forces told Ma'an that rescue teams had saved a number of fighters who were trapped in the tunnel after the explosion, while the ministry of health said at the time that the number of wounded was around 12.

Following the explosion, ‘Israeli' media claimed that the Zionist army staged a "controlled detonation" in the area around the Gaza Strip, saying the activity was pre-planned.

Meanwhile, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, released a statement following the attack, saying that "the blood of the martyrs would not be wasted, and that the ‘Israeli' occupation bears responsibility for the consequences of this aggressive escalation."

In the same respect, ‘Israeli' officials accused Hamas of "preparing" for another war with Zionist entity and threatened retaliatory measures against the Gaza Strip as a whole.

The majority of the two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are sealed inside the coastal enclave due to the continuation of the military blockade imposed by the Zionist regime and upheld by Egypt on the southern border.

The destruction from three ‘Israeli' wars since 2008, including damage to the enclave's water, sanitation, energy, and medical facilities, coupled with slow reconstruction due to the blockade, led the UN to warn that Gaza could be "uninhabitable" by 2020.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team