Palestinians bid farewell to seven martyrs in Gaza

Thousands of Palestinians marched on Tuesday in the funeral of the seven martyrs who were killed on Monday after the Israeli army bombed a tunnel between the southern Gaza Strip and the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories.

The funeral processions set off from al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis to the martyrs’ houses in the central and southern Gaza Strip.

Head of the Hamas Political Bureau, Ismail Haneyya, affirmed in a speech before the funeral that Israel’s attempts to impose new rules of war through this massacre will fail.

He stressed that speeding up the national reconciliation process, ending security coordination between the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Authority, and lifting the sanctions imposed on Gaza are the best response to Israel’s latest crime.

Member of the Hamas Political Bureau, Khalil al-Hayya, said that resistance is a legitimate right for the Palestinian people, adding that Israel will not escape punishment.

For his part, the first deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Ahmad Bahar, stressed that martyrs’ blood will not be wasted and called on all Palestinian factions to respond to the crime in the right time.

Seven Palestinian resistance fighters from al-Quds and al-Qassam Brigades were killed and 13 were injured on Monday after the Israeli occupation army blew up a resistance tunnel between the southern Gaza Strip and the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories. Others are still missing.