Gaza City - Gaza officials say four Palestinians have suffocated while trying to repair a smuggling tunnel hit in an Israeli airstrike last week.
There are hundreds of tunnels under the 9-mile (15-kilometer) Gaza-Egypt border, used for smuggling goods and people into Gaza. Israel charges that weapons and ammunition, including rockets that can hit Israeli cities, reach Gaza through the tunnels.
Israel hits tunnels in airstrikes, retaliation for rocket attacks from Gaza. But there have been no airstrikes in the past two days.
Hamas and Gaza health officials said the four Palestinians died Tuesday as they worked underground. In the past three years, about 160 workers have been killed in the tunnels, human rights groups say.
