JERUSALEM: Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak blamed Hamas yesterday for the detonation of an explosives tunnel along the Gaza border which wounded a soldier, and said he was mulling how and when to respond. The blast, which was claimed by the armed wing of the ruling Islamist Hamas movement, took place several hours after a Palestinian teenager was shot dead by troops in the same area, just east of the southern city of Khan Yunis, Palestinian medical officials and witnesses said.
“Israel views with great seriousness the detonation of an explosive tunnel along the border with the Gaza Strip, south of Kissufim,” he said in a statement issued by his office early on Friday, just hours after the blast struck. “Defence Minister Barak said that Israel sees Hamas as responsible for the incident and will examine how and when to respond.”AFP
