Heavy Rains Destroy Dozens of Smuggling Tunnels Along Egypt-Gaza Border
by Zach Pontz
Heavy rains along the Egypt-Gaza border have destroyed dozens of smuggling tunnels, German news agency DPA quoted a senior Egyptian security source as saying Thursday.
The source said that the tunnels had collapsed after they were flooded, injuring dozens inside and damaging goods in transit.
On Wednesday Gaza-based Palestine newspaper quoted Rafah Mayor Sobhi Radwan as saying Rafah authorities rescued four workers and a girl in one of the tunnels.
There are no official numbers as to how many tunnels there are along the Egypt-Gaza border, however, Israeli estimates have the number in the hundreds.
According to the Egyptian Independent, the Gaza-based Al Mezan Center for Human Rights estimates that 197 people were killed from 2006 to 2011 in the tunnels, including 10 children.
The tunnels are used to smuggle goods and weapons into Gaza because of Israel’s blockade of the strip aimed at preventing the arming of Gaza terror groups.