1 Palestinian dead after Rafah tunnel collapses

Adham Abu Saleemeh, the official spokesman for Gaza's ambulance and emergency services' supreme committee said on Sunday that a young Palestinian man was killed and another wounded when a tunnel collapsed on the Palestinian-Egyptian border in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. Abu Saleemeh said that “Jihad Iryati, a man in his 20’s died immediately upon the impact of the tunnel collapsing. Ambulances rushed to the scene and transferred Iryati and the wounded man, Abu Yusuf Najar to a hospital in the city.” Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities resumed their search on Saturday morning for underground tunnels in Al Shareet area, bordering Egypt and Palestine on the borders of Rafah. Witnesses said that a big drilling rig and armored bulldozers were stationed near Salaheddine Gate where digging will take place. Almost a week ago Egyptian authorities stopped their digging operations which they were undertaking near the Rafah crossing, opposite Al Barahmeh neighborhood. The Egyptian authorties dig as deep as 6 meters down below earth in the area which is considered the most populated on both Palestinian and Egyptian sides. A number of Egyptian officials said that the purpose of those operations was to destroy tunnels that affect Egypt’s national security; confirming that those diggings will not affect the supply process of goods into Gaza through those tunnels.