At least 7 Palestinians were killed and 11 others were injured some of whom critically after the Israeli army blew up a resistance tunnel to the east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip according to the spokesman of Gaza’s Ministry of Health Ashraf al-Qedra.
The PIC reporter said that two members of the Qassam Brigades the armed wing of Hamas Movement were killed while trying to rescue the Quds Brigades militants stuck in the bombed tunnel.
Al-Quds Brigades the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement announced that Arafat Abu Murshid the Brigades’ commander in central Gaza was killed along with his associate and other militants.
Search operations for other casualties in the destroyed tunnel are ongoing and the number of martyrs is likely to increase.
Al-Quds Brigades announced a state of alert in the besieged Gaza Strip and affirmed that they are considering all options including the option of responding to this attack.
A wave of anger prevailed among the Palestinian citizens in Gaza who gathered in the hospitals in protest at the Israeli crime.
Earlier on Monday the Israeli occupation army claimed responsibility for the strike that targeted the tunnel stretching between the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis and the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories.
Spokesman for the Israeli army said that the Israeli southern command destroyed a Palestinian tunnel under construction using new technology after it was discovered near the border fence east of Kahn Younis.
In a later development an Israeli military spokesman told Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that Iron Dome missile defense systems were deployed in the areas bordering the Gaza Strip in anticipation of any response to the attack.
