The tunnels dug from Gaza beneath Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula are used by Palestinians to bypass the Rafah Border Crossing in order to smuggle in stolen fuel and other goods along with weapons into the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave.

By i24NEWS

Three Palestinians died on Thursday after Egypt pumped toxic gas into a Gaza smuggling tunnel, Israel’s N12 news reports.

The tunnel stretches from the Gaza Strip to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

The smuggling tunnels dug under the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border are used by Palestinians to bypass the Rafah Border Crossing. Fuel, food and other goods along with weapons are brought into the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave from Egypt via the tunnel system.

Egyptian security forces in 2010 sprayed a border tunnel with gas, killing four Palestinians and wounding nine others.

In 2009 Egypt began building a steel border barrier along the 7.5 mile (14 km) border with Gaza to stop the smuggling tunnels. Construction started in February 2020 on a new concrete wall equipped with electronic sensors that runs 2 miles (3 km) along the Gaza-Egypt border.

Old-style Hamas tunnel, left, & New-style Hamas terror tunnel, right – Photo: IDF spokesperson

Human rights groups have accused the Gaza government of using child labor in the smuggling tunnels.

On the Israel-Gaza border, Palestinian youths from the “Night Confusion Unit” have recently been rioting on the Gaza border fence, hurling rocks and improvised explosives.

The Hamas terrorist group that rules the Gaza Strip maintains an extensive tunnel system within Gaza’s borders, dubbed the “Hamas Metro.” During May’s Operation Guardian of the Walls, Israeli forces inflicted heavy damage on the tunnel systemduring extensive aerial bombing campaigns.

View original i24NEWS publication at:
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/middle-east/1630588023-report-2-palestinians-dead-after-egypt-pumps-toxic-gas-into-gaza-smuggling-tunnel

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