PA accuses Israel of using poison gas to destroy tunnels

Palestinian Authority (PA) officials accused Israel of using poison gas when the IDF destroyed a terror tunnel leading from Gaza into Israel Monday, Palestinian Media Watch reported.

At least seven terrorists from the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations, including a senior Islamic Jihad official, were killed when the IDF destroyed the tunnel from the Israeli side, using recently developed technology.

PA Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qudra told the PA's official news station that: "Most of the injuries among the martyrs and wounded occurred during the inhalation of gas ... There is speculation that Israel used an internationally forbidden weapon during this incident. Therefore, we call on all of the international organizations to stop these materials that the Israeli occupation is using against our unarmed people."

The official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida repeated the unfounced claim that Israel used illegal poison gas in the tunnels. "Yesterday [Oct. 30, 2017] medical sources announced the death of eight Martyrs (Shahids) and the wounding of 12 others... due to Israeli bombing of a tunnel...

The report continued: "A medical source in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital at Deir Al-Balah, revealed that poison gas was used in the missiles that hit the tunnel, and that the doctors still do not know what type it is, since it was used for the first time ..."

"The Fatah Movement condemned the Israeli crime and emphasized in a statement yesterday that this pure blood was not spilled in vain, and that those who committed the crime will not escape justice."

The official Facebook page of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party also posted pictures of three of the dead terrorists, along with a caption quoting the Quran to praise them as 'martyrs.' "And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision." (Quran, Sura 3:169, Sahih International translation)