A number of tunnels have collapsed on Palestinian tunnel workers in the past year, leading to their deaths. The exact reasons for the collapse of the tunnels remains unclear.
By ADAM RASGONUpdated: JULY 11, 2016 00:03Palestinian militants from the Islamic Jihad's armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, in a tunnel in the south of the Gaza Strip (photo credit: MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)
One Palestinian was killed and several others wounded when an attack tunnel collapsed in the north Gazan border town of Beit Hanun, Saraya al-Quds, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said Sunday.“One of the Jihadi fighters of the Northern Brigade has risen to heaven as a martyr,” the group said in a statement published on its website.The statement identified the deceased tunnel worker as Ibrahim Hassan al-Masri, a 28-year-old Gazan, who was pronounced dead on arrival at the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, approximately 4 km. from Beit Hanun.“We emphasize that the blood of martyrs will not be wasted and will be a curse that follows the occupier everywhere.We renew our insistence on the path of jihad and resistance until the complete liberation of Palestine’s beloved land,” the statement added.A number of tunnel workers have been killed in numerous collapses over the past year, though the exact reasons for the collapses remains unclear.After the IDF uncovered a tunnel extending into Israeli territory in April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed that Israel has developed a cutting-edge tunnel technology to locate tunnels.July 8 marked two years since the start of Operation Protective Edge, the 51-day war with Gaza during which Israel destroyed 32 attack tunnels.