The Times of Israel reports: Senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Khaled al-Batsh said Tuesday that the attack tunnel stretching from Gaza into Israeli territory that was blown up by the IDF the previous day had been built by his group for the purpose of kidnapping Israeli soldiers.
“The purpose of the tunnel was kidnapping soldiers in order to free prisoners [from Israeli prisons],” Batsh said, speaking at a funeral in Gaza for five PIJ terrorists — including two senior commanders — and two terrorists from Hamas’s armed wing who were killed as a result of the tunnel’s destruction.
“Islamic Jihad will not allow the occupation to impose new rules of engagement on us,” he added. The PIJ leader said his group would dig another tunnel at a later date in order to abduct soldiers to trade for prisoners in Israel.
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