BICOM

A tunnel being prepared by Hamas for an apparent attack on Israel, collapsed yesterday in the Gaza Strip, killing five Hamas activists.

According to Haaretz, the tunnel, which was located near the border with Israel, was bombed by Israel’s Air Force on Monday evening and it collapsed when five members of the Qassam Brigades – Hamas’s armed wing – went inside. A statement from Hamas said that, “Five martyrs were killed in a resistance activity in Saghira neighbourhood” in eastern Gaza City, explaining that they were taking part in “operational activities.” The IDF has not commented on the incident, which comes as Hamas activists in the West Bank are being targeted for arrest as part of the operation to locate three Israeli teenagers abducted last week.

However, Israeli forces have uncovered tunnels designed to infiltrate Israel on several occasions during the past year. Most recently in March a tunnel was found stretching around 1,800 metres, of which 300 metres is situated in Israeli territory. In October last year, the IDF revealed that it had found a huge 1.7 kilometre-long tunnel, which included an electrical system and a phone line.

Also yesterday, several rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, with rocket-warning systems sounding across the region. One rocket is thought to have landed in the Sha’ar Hanegev region while another was intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system. No injuries or damage was reported. More than a dozen rockets have been fired from Gaza at southern Israel since the search to find the three kidnapped youngsters began at the end of last week.

In response to yesterday’s rocket fire, Israel’s Air Force “targeted a terror activity site, a terror infrastructure site and a concealed rocket launcher in the northern Gaza Strip and two terror activity sites in the central Gaza Strip,” according to an IDF statement. Palestinian reports said that three people were injured in the raids.