The Gaza Strip’s civil defense found the bodies of two Palestinians workers in a flooded tunnel late on Saturday, days after Egyptian authorities pumped seawater into the structure.
Medical sources said that the civil defense found the bodies of Fadi Abu Dan, from Khan Yunis, and Muhammad Abbas, from Rafah, adding that both were in their twenties.
Seven Palestinians were rescued on Thursday during a search operation in the Gazan city of Rafah after Egyptian authorities flooded the tunnel while workers were present.
Palestinians in Gaza have relied on underground smuggling tunnels across the Egyptian border since 2007, when Israel imposed a military blockade on the coastal enclave after Hamas took control there.
The tunnels have since provided a vital lifeline for the besieged territory's more than 1.8 million residents.
However, Egypt has destroyed and flooded hundreds of the tunnels as part of an ongoing security campaign in the northern Sinai Peninsula against anti-regime militants launching attacks on Egyptian police and military personnel.
Egypt accuses Hamas of supporting the insurgents, allegations Hamas strongly denies.
Israel's Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israeli media early last month that a number of tunnels had been flooded at Israel's request, adding that relations between Egypt and Israel were "better than ever."
Human Rights Watch last year slammed Egypt's military for its campaign against the tunnels, during which the group said some 3,200 families had been evicted from their homes near the border and hundreds of acres of farmland destroyed.
The group said Egypt had failed to provide adequate proof that insurgents were receiving support from Gaza.
The UN reported in February that only a few tunnels remained partially operational between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
