[Haaretz Defense] At least seven Palestinians were killed overnight when fuel exploded in a smuggling tunnel beneath the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials in Gaza said on Monday. The accident was one of the worst on record in the Gaza tunnel network. Confined spaces, poor ventilation, leaking drums of fuel, what could possibly go wrong?
Relax! Here, have a cigar!
Officials said the explosion and fire were caused by an electrical spark.
Oh, right. Mutual of Gaza will be pissed.
More dead may be buried at the scene, the officials added.
Pre-interred, as it were ...
But they gave no figure. Officials say 107 Palestinians have been killed in the tunnels since the beginning of the year, prompting one Gaza leader to call for an end to the deaths.
Jamil Majdalawi of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine PFLP urged Hamas to supervise the tunnel business. "We are in need of some of what comes through these tunnels and we have repeatedly asked for a rationalization of this operation, organizing it so that it answers to the necessities of the people, not a beast that swallows their souls and their money for the sake of some greedy people."
Monday's accident coincided with Israel's first permitted shipment of fuel for private use into Gaza for 10 months -- 100,000 liters of diesel and 40,000 liters of gasoline.