Death toll rises to 7 in Israeli army blast at Gaza tunnel

Seven militants were killed and ten injured after the Israeli army bombarded on Monday a tunnel underneath the borders between southeast Gaza Strip and Israel, medics and security sources said.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of Gaza health ministry, told reporters that seven Palestinians were killed and ten injured, after the Israeli army bombed an area southeast of the Gaza Strip, close to the borders with Israel.

Security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Israeli army bombarded with several bombs a tunnel that was dug underneath the borderline area between southeast Gaza Strip and Israel.

They said ten people were stuck for a while into the destroyed tunnel, and contact with them was disconnected, adding that the ten are members of the Islamic Jihad's armed wing, better known as Saraya al-Quds, or al-Quds Brigades.

Islamic Jihad spokesman in Gaza Dawood Shihab told reporters "our response to this crime will be taken in the right moment. This is an attempt to mix up the situation after the attempt of assassinating General Tawfiq Abu Ne'em on Friday."

He added that his group is studying to respond to the attack on the tunnel, adding that a final decision will be made within the coming few hours after consultation with all Palestinian factions.

Mohamed al-Hindi, the top Islamic Jihad leader in the Gaza Strip said that the Egyptian-brokered truce reached between Israel and Gaza militant groups is not valid anymore and called for a response to the Israeli attack on the tunnel.

The Islamic Jihad said in an emailed press statement that five of the dead are members in the group's armed wing and two are members in Islamic Hamas movement's armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades.

Earlier on Monday, the Israeli army announced that an underground tunnel that goes from southern Gaza into Israel was blown up and destroyed, adding that the tunnel is 2 km long and it is under construction.

Israel held Islamic Hamas movement responsible for constructing tunnels that are used by militants in the Gaza Strip to carry out attacks from the coastal enclave into Israel.