Israel denies links to airstrike on Gaza tunnel that killed 2

Two Palestinians were killed and five were injured during a reported airstrike on a smuggling tunnel between Egypt and Gaza on Wednesday night, official Palestinian sources said.

Gaza Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf Al-Qidra said today that Hussam Hamid Al-Sufi, 24, from the town of Rafah, and Muhammad Anwar Al-Aqraa, a 38-year-old resident of Gaza City, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, while five other Palestinians were injured.

An Israeli army spokesperson denied that the army was involved in the reported strike.

The casualties came in the wake of multiple airstrikes launched by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip on Monday which injured two Palestinians.

The Gaza-based Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights expressed concern on Tuesday that Israel could be leading up to a wide-scale military offensive.

The rights group called on the international community to “act promptly against Israel’s military escalation, to fulfil their obligations to protect civilians, and ensure respect for the rules of international law,” stressing that “acting before a full-scale military bombardment is launched is crucial to ensuring the protection of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.”