The latest Hamas tunnel collapse

Times of Israel reports:

At least two members of the Hamas terror group were killed and several injured in a tunnel collapse in the Gaza Strip on Sunday evening.

Conflicting reports in Palestinian media outlets say between two and five people were killed when the tunnel collapsed beneath the city of Rafah in the southern end of the coastal territory, along the border with Egypt.

At least two were said to have been injured and one person may still be missing.

One report said unseasonable rains had caused the collapse, while another outlet reported that the Egyptian army had detonated the end of the tunnel that entered its territory, and flooded the remainder.

The collapsed tunnel was the 12th reported incident of its kind since the beginning of the year.

Palestinian media are not confirming the deaths. But what they are saying is interesting.

Palestine Press Agency reports Hamas has imposed a media blackout on the event and the al-Qassam Brigades cordoned off a large area around the tunnel, saying according to their sources eight people were retrieved safely.

Hamas has been having meetings with Egyptian officials to smooth over their differences after Egypt accused Hamas of aiding the Islamic State forces in the Sinai. Egypt has also been working to destroy tunnels along the Rafah border, and perhaps one such action yesterday caused this collapse.

Arabic media reports that the meetings have been fruitful and that all fundamental differences between Egypt and Hamas have been addressed.

But this tunnel is clearly a Hamas military tunnel, not a private tunnel for consumer goods.

Egypt might not be pleased that Hamas is still building tunnels that Egypt considers a major security risk.

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