Only 5% of Gaza tunnels damaged in Israeli strikes: Hamas

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – Only 5% of the tunnel network used by resistance groups in the Gaza Strip was damaged in Israel’s recent attacks on the besieged Palestinian territory, a top Hamas leader said on Wednesday.

Israel also failed in its ploy to kill resistance fighters by spreading false news of a ground offensive, according to Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas chief in the Gaza Strip.

“Israel failed to direct a strike to kill the political, military, and security leadership [of Palestinian resistance groups] and destroy their command and control rooms,” he told journalists in Gaza.

He stressed that Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque are a red line for the Palestinian people.

Sinwar, who spent 24 years in Israeli jails, remains a top target for Israeli forces.

An Egypt-brokered cease-fire between Palestinian resistance groups and Israel came into effect in the Gaza Strip on May 21, putting an end to 11 days of fighting.

At least 254 Palestinians were killed, including 66 children and 39 women, and more than 1,900 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, while 31 more were killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, according to official Palestinian figures.

Thirteen Israelis also died in Palestinian rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.