Tensions rise after Israel blows up tunnel from Gaza

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — Tensions rose Tuesday after an Israeli operation to blow up a tunnel from the Gaza Strip killed seven Palestinian militants in one of the deadliest incidents since the devastating Israeli aggression in 2014.

The seven men, from the armed wings of Gaza's rulers Hamas and allied group Islamic Jihad, were killed Monday when Israel blew up the tunnel it claimed had crossed into its territory and was intended for attacks.

They were being buried Tuesday in their respective neighbourhoods in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh appeared at a funeral in central Gaza attended by a few thousand people, witnesses said, while senior Hamas figure Khalil Al Hayya spoke at one in the southern part of the strip.

"[Hamas] knows how to manage the conflict with the enemy and how to get revenge and strike at the time and place that hurts the enemy," Hayya said, according to a statement.

Israel claimed it had been monitoring the digging of the tunnel for an unspecified length of time and was forced to act after "the grave and unacceptable violation of Israeli sovereignty".

It said the operation was carried out on the Israeli side of the border and stressed it was not seeking a further escalation.

Sensitive moment 

The operation comes at a sensitive time, with rival Palestinian factions Fateh and Hamas pursuing a reconciliation accord aimed at ending their 10-year rift.

Hamas is due to hand over control of the enclave’s borders to the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday under the deal mediated by Egypt and signed on October 12.

It is due to return the Gaza Strip to full PA control by December 1.

Both Haniyeh and Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah spoke of ensuring the reconciliation pact remains on track.

“The response to this massacre... is to move forward towards the restoration of national unity because the enemy realises our strength is our unity,” Haniyeh said.

Senior PA official Mustafa Barghouthi accused Israel of trying to disrupt the reconciliation bid.

Separately in the West Bank on Tuesday, Israeli forces opened fire on a “suspect” vehicle, killing one Palestinian and wounding another, Israel’s army and the Palestinian health ministry said. There did not appear to be any connection.

An army spokesman said Monday that Israel used advanced technology to locate the tunnel but declined to elaborate.

The army has been seeking to build an underground wall surrounding Gaza that would block such tunnels, among other methods it has been developing.

Israeli leaders have been keen to show they are addressing the threat of tunnels from the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has ruled Gaza since a near civil war with Fateh, based in the occupied West Bank, in 2007.

Since then Israel has launched three aggressions on the coastal enclave, while imposing a blockaded against Gaza’s two million citizens. Egypt’s border with the enclave has also remained largely closed in recent years.

Wednesday’s scheduled handover of the border crossings is a first key test of the Hamas-Fateh reconciliation deal.

Israel has said it will reject any unity government that includes Hamas if the Islamist group does not disarm and recognise the country, among other demands.

The devastating Israeli agressions killed 2,251 Palestinians, while more than 10,000 were wounded and 100,000 were left homeless.