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Hamas operatives fear entering tunnels, believe Israel behind collapses
Hamas operatives are afraid to enter underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip, fearing that they will collapse, The Jerusalem Post has learned from Palestinian sources.In addition, some of the operatives digging the tunnels believe that Israel was involved in at least some of the recent tunnel collapses that claimed the lives of several Hamas men. The most recent collapse occurred on Thursday afternoon when a tunnel collapsed in Khan Younis, killing one Hamas operative. The collapse marked the sixth such tunnel collapse in recent months - the highest number of collapses to have occurred since summer 2014's Operation Protective Edge. Official reports, both in Israel and Gaza, describe collapses caused by recent storms and heavy rains. However, among Hamas and others, there are many who believe that Israel is responsible. Hamas operatives have seen Israeli activities near the Gaza border fence against tunnels and fear that they are connected to the tunnel collapses. Some of the activists have even spoken of the methods which Israel is supposedly using to cause the tunnels to collapse. One Hamas operative claimed that Israel is using liquid explosives to cause the collapses, while another operative expressed fears of Israel's ability to cause localized earthquakes which could also collapse the tunnels. Hamas has mentioned the IDF's Yahalom elite Combat Engineering Corps unit which has special anti-tunnel measures, and the Oketz canine unit which sends trained dogs into the tunnels. Senior Hamas officials have paid condolence calls to those killed in the tunnel collapses, but have refused to give the bereaved families further information on the incidents. According to the mother of one of the tunnel victims, Hamas would only say that the collapse was caused by the weather, but failed to elaborate and maintained secrecy. The leadership of Hamas apparently cannot prevent the collapse of the tunnels and recently, Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh claimed that Israeli technology has been discovered underground. Posted by: Iblis 2016-03-04 |
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