Jerusalem, April 15: The Israeli Army on Sunday claimed to have discovered and destroyed a tunnel allegedly extending tens of metres into Israel from Gaza and that belonged to the Islamist movement Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip.

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus confirmed the destruction of the tunnel, the fifth such tunnel to have been found in the last five months, which the Army said started from Jabalia in northern Gaza and ended near the Israeli community of Nahal Oz, Efe news agency reported.

"The route of the terror tunnel was identified by security forces early on and monitored thereafter," the Israel Army said on Twitter.

Israeli Army also claimed that "violent riots that have been taking place in the area of the security fence are an attempt to mask the terror attacks intended to take place above and below ground".

Since March 30, thousands of peaceful Palestinian demonstrators have set up protest tent camps along the Gaza-Israel border, and the Israeli military has killed at least 33 demonstrators during marches that have taken place near the border each Friday.

According to the United Nations, over 3,700 Palestinians have been wounded by Israeli forces during the Friday marches; 969 Palestinians on April 13, another 1,350 people on April 6 and 1,416 people on March 30.

The protests are calling for the right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, who according to the United Nations make up around two thirds of Gaza's population, to return to their homeland inside what is now Israel.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.

“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.

The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.

Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.