Gazan sources on Wednesday morning 24 Shevat report that another tunnel has collapsed and at least two people have been killed and an unspecified number of others have been injured. this is the second such report in the past two weeks, with the last being in northern Gaza when a tunnel collapsed, killing at least seven people.

Among the dead in the latest tunnel collapse is a relative of a senior Hamas official, the reports from Gaza add.

Gaza border community residents and leaders insist Hamas continues working to rehabilitate its terror tunnel network that the IDF reports it destroyed in Operation Protective Edge. Anyone in the area of these communities at night can easily hear drilling and at times, feel vibrations, lending credibility to their concerns.

However, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon explains that to date, nothing has been found to substantiate the claims that new tunnels are being constructed.

0404 News reports that a military source confirms “Hamas is digging tunnels without any doubt but for now, there is no evidence these tunnels have crossed the border”.

If one travels to the Gaza border today one will see dozens of Israeli drills operating, digging holes 25-30 meters down in the hope of finding tunnels. To date nothing has been found or at least not reported. Experts explain the drilling is not easy for one must land in exactly the correct spot over a tunnel and this is most unlikely.

Gaza officials explain that the farmers know more than the so-called military experts, explaining they come to their fields in the morning and see land shifts including a drop of centimeters from the night to the next day. They insist this is proof of the ongoing work under the ground despite denials from the IDF and government officials.

Gaza residents are questioning the denial and wish to understand why once again Israel is permitting Hamas to build an underground network to use to attack in the next round of warfare. Residents point out that just as Egypt can detonate terror tunnels on the Rafiach side of the border, Israel must do the same at this side of the border.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)