The Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, issued a press release stating that one of its fighters was killed on Thursday evening when a tunnel collapsed on top of him in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.The brigades identified the fighter as Hasan Mahmoud Abu Jasser, 20. He was buried under the rubble of the tunnel, and suffocated to death.
Ahmad Abu Jasser, spokesperson of the Brigades, stated that the group supports national unity among all factions and segments of the Palestinian society, adding that it reserves the right to retaliate for Israeli violations.
Abu Jasser added that unity and reconciliation between the Palestinian factions, and a truce with Israel, do not mean accepting facts on the grounds and that Hamas “will not ask for permission from anybody to retaliate against Israeli crimes”.
