Palestinian Authority policemen rescued three Palestinians from a collapsed tunnel through which they were attempting to smuggle weapons a few hundred meters from the Egypt-Israel border in the southern Gaza Strip yesterday.
The three were arrested by Palestinian security forces and transfered to Israel for medical treatment. The Israel Defense Forces made their rescue possible on condition that they be transfered to the army afterward.
The three, all from the same family, were trapped in rubble after the tunnel collapsed due to heavy rain in the area overnight. The family is from the Yabna refugee camp in Gaza.
Military sources said the tunnel collapsed while an unknown number of Palestinians were digging toward an IDF outpost near Rafah in southern Gaza.
The sources said the army had permitted two Palestinian bulldozers to enter the area to help dig out the people.
