JERUSALEM, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Israel on Thursday said it denied a request by the Red Cross to permit a search for casualties in a cross-border tunnel between Gaza and Israel that Israel blew up earlier this week.
At least 14 Islamic Jihad militants were killed in a tunnel starches between the Palestinian enclave and the Jewish state after Israeli forces blew it up on Monday, according to Israel's military. The military said in a statement the structure was a "terror tunnel" that reached until Kibbutz Kissufim in southern Israel.
Gaza officials have requested the International Committee of the Red Cross to ask Israel to enable them to search for the bodies of five Palestinians that are believed to be dead inside the tunnel.
On Thursday, Israel denied the request, demanding to see first a progress in the retrieval of bodies of Israeli soldiers and the release of live Israeli citizens who Israel believes are being held in Gaza.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai said in a statement that he was approached on the issue by the head of the International Red Cross delegation in Israel, Jacques de Maio.
Mordechai told de Maio that Israel "would not allow the search activities in the security perimeter of the Gaza Strip, without a progress on the issue of Israelis who are missing or held captive (in Gaza)."
Hamas has been holding the bodies of two soldiers who were killed during Israel's last military campaign in Gaza in 2014. Israel believes that two live civilians, who apparently voluntarily crossed the fence into Gaza, are being held captive in the Strip.
The Monday bombing of the tunnel was the deadliest incident in the coastal enclave since the 2014 Gaza war, according to Hamas officials. The Gaza Health Ministry identified four of the dead as Islamic Jihad members and two more as Hamas members.
The Islamic Jihad reportedly wanted an immediate coordinated military response.
However, Hamas was urging caution and coordination with Egypt in order not to significantly raise the tension in the region.
Hamas called the Israeli strike a "dangerous escalation against our people" and "a desperate attempt to sabotage efforts to restore Palestinian unity."
The incident occurred ahead of a Palestinian unity deal that is supposed to be implemented over the coming weeks.
