A terrorist tunnel in northern Gaza collapsed on Sunday evening, killing two Palestinian terrorists and injuring at least eight others. 

Over the weekend, Israeli security forces detained four Palestinians who attempted to infiltrate into Israel by crossing the border fence from the Gaza Strip.

Hamas, the elected governing body of Gaza, has constructed a sophisticated network of military tunnels running some dozens of kilometers within the Gaza Strip. The tunnels are used to hide its arsenal of rocketry, to facilitate communication, to permit munition stocks to be hidden and to conceal militants, making detection from the air difficult.

Al-Qassam Brigades announced earlier today that Khalil Muhammad Labad was killed in a tunnel collapse. #Gaza pic.twitter.com/PNnSZf4CLE

— Joe Truzman (@Jtruzmah) September 20, 2020

Cross-border tunnels were used in the capture of Gilad Shalit in 2006, and multiple times during the 2014 conflict. Destroying the tunnels was a primary objective of Israeli forces in the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict when the IDF reported that it neutralized 32 tunnels, fourteen of which crossed into Israel.

A United Nations Human Rights Commission inquiry in 2014 concluded that “the tunnels were only used to conduct attacks directed at IDF positions in Israel in the vicinity of the Green Line, which are legitimate military targets.” On at least four separate occasions, terrorists have crossed the border via tunnels, emerging in close proximity to civilian dwellings.

The Israeli military has provided estimates that Hamas spent around $30 to $90 million on the construction of the tunnels, frequently employing children in their construction. 

The event is strongly reminiscent of the verse in Psalms:

They prepared a net for my feet to ensnare me; they dug a pit for me, but they fell into it. Selah. Psalms 57:7

Though the Children of Israel are commanded to conquer the land, there are occasions in which the downfall of the enemies is accomplished effortlessly simply by virtue of their opposition, as noted by Joshua:

For it was Hashem‘s doing to stiffen their hearts to give battle to Yisrael, in order that they might be proscribed without quarter and wiped out, as Hashem had commanded Moshe. Joshua 11:20