Report: Egypt blows up Gaza smuggling tunnel
Palestinian sources say Egypt uncovered two tunnels, including one used to transport vehicles.
By Haaretz Service Tags: Israel news GazaPalestinian sources said on Saturday that Egyptian forces had blown up a smuggling tunnel beneath the border with the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported.
There were no casualties, said the sources, who also reported the discovery by Egypt of a second tunnel, used to smuggle vehicles.
Egypt has now shut down six vehicle-smuggling tunnels, which cost an estimated half a million dollars each to dig, Israel Radio said.
Last week Hamas ordered the temporary closure of hundreds of smuggling tunnels around the town of Rafah, which straddles the border between the Sinai peninsula and the Gaza Strip.
Journalists in the Strip said Hamas issued the order in response to an unusual request for the tunnels' closure from the Egyptian authorities, amid rumors that an Israeli had been kidnapped in Sinai and was to be taken into Gaza via a tunnel.
In late March Israeli warplanes bombed tunnels in response to rocket attacks launched from within the Hamas-controlled enclave.
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israel needs to build the rail road connection from west bank to gaza BUT stop at ONE mile distance from Gaza. Let all the gazans see the progress and you will see a major realignment in gaza/ hamas behavior and strategy. Hamas will erad the "tea leaves" .....
Mubarak should be prosecuted in the Hague for crimes against humanity for the tunnel destruction.
... to Egypt, I presume?
They tend on the whole not to be overweight.
Howdy Adam; Humanitarian aid in the form of food, water, electricity, and gasoline to the Gaza Strip is not being blocked by Israel or Egypt. Only contraband in the form of weapons, explosives, and foreign Jihadists who are being illegally smuggled into the Gaza Strip are the targets of these tunnel closures. There is no "collective punishment" in the denial of war material to the enemy during a period armed conflict.
you are collectively punishing them. thats against international law. but what do you care. you can't starve your partners to peace. Someday the tables will turn and you wont like it.
I am surprised it took Haaretz so long to write a story about the size and magnitude of the Egyptian/Gaza smuggling tunnels. I am more surprised at the amount of time it took for Egypt to stop looking the other way. A tunnel for smuggling people is easy to hide...but for full sized trucks...you need to be blind. Hamas is starting to lose control of the tax revenues and that is why they have allowed Egypt to blow them up.