Hamas responsible for the deaths of 160 Palestinian child labourers in tunnel construction
The Beirut, Ramallah and Washing based Institute for Palestinian Studies has reported the use of child labour in Hamas tunnel construction.From the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem:
1. In recent years, Hamas has built extensive networks of tunnels. One runs from the Gaza Strip to Egypt and is used for smuggling weapons, goods and terrorists. The second network runs from Gaza into Israeli territory and is used by groups of terrorists to cross under the border to carry out terror and kidnapping attacks against Israeli citizens.
2. In the summer of 2012, the Institute for Palestine Studies (which describes itself as a private, nonprofit research institution located in Beirut, Ramallah and Washington) published a detailed report on Gaza’s tunnel phenomenon.
The report documents Hamas’ use of child laborers to build and operate the tunnels. It further reports that despite concerns by human rights groups, no significant attention was paid by Hamas to their safety.
The report cited Hamas officials who said that “at least 160 children have been killed in tunnels” and stated that “nothing was done to impede the use of children in the tunnels, where, much as in Victorian coal mines, they are prized for their nimble bodies”.
3. Not only has Hamas built terror tunnels to attack Israeli children, but this report clearly demonstrates that it is criminally responsible for exploiting and endangering the lives of children in Gaza to do so.
