House demolitions in Gaza

Conal Urquhart reports in the Guardian on Israel demolishing houses in Gaza:

It is not always possible to believe Israeli army statements, but in this case they appear to be accurate. There have been disputes between neighbours over the tunnels and in one case a gun battle between Palestinian police and a family believed to have been digging one.

Sami Shaher,46, was rebuilding his house 50 metres from the border after it was destroyed by the Israeli army in 2002. He said he received a call at 10.30pm on Wednesday from Abu Nimr. Thirty minutes later his unfinished house was blown up, leaving a crater 20 metres wide and 10 metres deep. A 14-year-old girl was killed by flying debris. There is no visible evidence of a tunnel.