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"Israel Destroys 7 Gaza Tunnels" by ISABEL KERSHNER
JERUSALEM, Nov. 1 — The Israeli military said Thursday that its forces had discovered seven tunnels running under the border between Egypt and Gaza.
Army officials said that the tunnels were used by Hamas to smuggle militants in and out, and that they were part of the group’s “weapons supply mechanism.” The tunnels were subsequently blown up, they said.
A Hamas representative in Gaza acknowledged on Wednesday that the group brought in weapons through tunnels. The underground passages also serve a thriving black market in goods like cigarettes, which have become scarce because of severe Israeli restrictions on all formal imports since the Hamas takeover of Gaza in June.
Tensions have risen in recent days. On Thursday morning, Palestinian militants fired nine rockets toward Israel, an army spokeswoman said. One damaged a building in the Israeli border town of Sderot, she said.
The Israeli Air Force fired at militants who were firing rockets in northern Gaza, and ground forces shot at two groups of militants in the south. In all, 10 Palestinians were wounded, according to news reports.
Late Wednesday, the Israeli military released video of Gaza militants firing mortar rounds from the yard of an elementary school in the northern town of Beit Hanoun on Monday morning.
“The terrorist organizations, headed and controlled by Hamas, constantly and cynically use the uninvolved Palestinian civilians and children as human shields,” the army said in a statement, adding that it “targeted and hit the launching cell as they were fleeing the school premises.”
A resident of Beit Hanoun said the militants belonged to the Hamas military wing.
The school is run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which provides assistance to Palestinian refugees. Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the agency, condemned the use of its schools “by militants and during military operations.” Both types of activity are “highly disruptive” and “clearly endanger the lives of our students and teachers,” he said.
Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas legislator in Gaza, said that “the Palestinian resistance works hard to stay away from population centers and public buildings,” but that “sometimes the resistance is obliged to defend those places.”
Sick of NaZionist Lies yet, readers?
Every time they open their mouths!
