Hamas affiliate killed in southern Gaza tunnel collapse

A Hamas-affiliated militant was killed in a tunnel collapse in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday morning, the movement’s military wing said.

Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that 29-year-old Abd al-Rahman al-Mubashir from Khan Younis was killed after a tunnel collapsed.

The statement added that the tunnel “belonged to resistance” without giving further details about the accident.

A number of Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in the vast tunnel networks that lie below the besieged enclave, which are largely used for smuggling in the coastal enclave's south and military purposes in the north.

The Institute for Palestine Studies reported in 2012 that Hamas authorities had counted 160 deaths inside the tunnels since the Israeli blockade began in 2007, and in August 2014, Al Jazeera reported that figure to be as high as 400.