Hamas on Friday said it recovered the bodies of three men from a smuggling tunnel along the Egyptian border with Gaza.
The statement gave no cause of death. But a day earlier, the group accused Egypt of pumping poisonous gas into the tunnel. Such accusations could escalate tensions with Egypt just as the Egyptians are trying to broker a cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Israel. There was no immediate Egyptian comment.
Contact was lost with the smugglers late Thursday. Hamas and other militant factions later said that workers had died when toxic gas was pumped into a "trading tunnel," calling it "murder for which Egyptian authorities bear full responsibility."