“We appreciate Iran for the support it has provided for the resistance”, senior Hamas leader Khalil Abu Leila said, according to the newspaper. Especially during times of war, it has often executed or tortured them publicly, in clear warning to Palestinians who might think about challenging Hamas rule or policies.
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On Tuesday morning, the head of the Israel Defense Forces hinted at hidden efforts to counter Gazan tunnels built with the goal of carrying out attack on Israeli communities near the Gazan border.
Observers have cited an increase in number of victims in tunnel collapses.
Egypt set up a buffer zone on its border with Gaza and has destroyed hundreds of lifeline tunnels since Egypt’s first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, was toppled in a July 2013 military coup led by Sisim, the then army chief and the current president. It said the decision to kill Eshtewi, who was detained in January 2015, was taken by its “military and religious judiciary”, a previously unheard-of department.
In December 2014, al-Qassam Brigades formed a special tunnel unit responsible for digging and equipping tunnels and training fighters to use them.
More than 2,200 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them civilians, were killed in the 50-day summer war.
Israeli drills search for fighting tunnels on the Israel and Gaza border, seen in the background, February 3. The recent collapse of tunnels is largely due to heavy rainfall; but it is also an indication of the rushed Hamas operation to extend and complete its underground network before the tunnels are detected (and destroyed) by new Israeli sensors being developed and installed.
Israel says the violence is fueled by a campaign of Palestinian incitement.
“The rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli towns affect Israel, but the Iron Dome reduced their impact”.
Iran itself is a listed state sponsor of terrorism and has always been accused of supporting terrorist groups across the the Middle East, including Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which are considered Israeli enemies. “This weapon will have the final say and will turn the table on Israel’s intentions to wage a new war on the Gaza Strip”.
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The man was reportedly a member of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, and was working in a tunnel near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
