Free Republic

Hamas is digging tunnels next to United Nations facilities under the assumption that the IDF will not target them during a future conflict, defense officials warned on Sunday....officials said a tunnel Hamas had been digging adjacent to a UN school in Beit Hanun had collapsed earlier this month.

Excerpt - A 19-hour standoff between Israel Defense Forces troops and Palestinian gunmen holed up inside a mosque in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun ended Friday morning after all the gunmen fled, the IDF and Palestinians said. The militants inside the mosque escaped under cover of a protest by Palestinian women outside, the IDF said. ~ snip ~

A 16-year-old Palestinian was killed and three individuals were wounded Friday morning in a clash between residents of Beit Hanun and members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, who wanted to fire Qassam rockets from the area. Palestinian sources said that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades cell, consisting of six armed men, arrived in Beit Hanun on Friday morning. Israel Defense Forces soldiers were operating in the town at the time to locate Qassam rocket launchers. Members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades cell placed a launcher next to the home of the Za'anun family, in Beit Hanun. Family members tried to drive...