REPORT: AT LEAST 160 CHILDREN DIED DIGGING HAMAS’ TUNNELS

Because of their size and agility, children make good tunnel-diggers. The English knew this when they were digging coal mines during the Victorian era; Hamas knows it now.

Thus, the Journal of Palestine Studies (edited by President Obama’s pro-Palestinian friendRashid Khalidi) reported in 2012 that Hamas uses children to help dig tunnels into Israel. The finding appears in a paper called Gaza’s Tunnel Phenomenon: The Unintended Dynamics of Israel’s Siege.

The author of the paper, Nicolas Pelham accompanied a police patrol in Gaza during December 2011. He reported 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.”

He also found that “at least 160 children have been killed in the tunnels, according to Hamas officials.” And, as noted, this was as of the end of 2011. How many more Palestinian children have died digging tunnels for Hamas since then?

It’s not surprising that Hamas endangers Palestinian children by having them engage in highly dangerous child labor. Hamas is willing to use children as human shields, so why would it not use them to dig tunnels?

Still, this additional example of Hamas’ inhumanity is worth noting.