Tag Archive for smuggler tunnels

| April 12, 2014
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Low in ammo, Hamas introduces laser training

 

Developed with homegrown technology, Hamas’ quiet indoor electronic shooting-range is less likely to attract Israel Air Force’s targeting.

By Associated Press

 

GAZA CITY — In a long hallway that looks more like a videogame arcade than a military base, Hamas security forces are holding target practice using assault rifles fitted with lasers — all without firing a bullet.

(Photo: Reuters)

Palestinian laser training – Photo: Reuters

For the cash-strapped Hamas government, the system is a much-needed money saver that eliminates the need to train with live ammunition, which is in short supply in Gaza. Hamas also says the quiet, indoor facility is less likely to attract the attention of the IDF than the open-air firing ranges that are frequently targeted in airstrikes. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| March 14, 2014
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Hamas in worst economic crisis since seizing Gaza in coup d’état

 

Support for Hamas plummeted to 29% & there is speculation that the Islamic militant movement might be driven from power.

By Associated Press

 

GAZA CITY – Gaza’s Hamas rulers have been hit by the worst economic crisis since seizing the territory seven years ago and face growing discontent, even among core supporters, because there’s no sign of relief from a blockade enforced not only by Israel but also by a suddenly hostile Egypt.

Vue d'un tunnel creusé en territoire israélien depuis la bande de Gaza, le 13 octobre 2013 ( David Buimovitch (AFP) )

Gaza Tunnel – David Buimovitch/AFP

Hamas government employees have complained publicly about getting only partial salaries for the past four months. Bus drivers have staged a strike over soaring fuel prices. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| March 13, 2014
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Amidst falling rockets, Egypt boasts of destroying 1,370 Hamas tunnels into Gaza

In a show of yet another sign of Cairo’s antipathy towards Hamas, the French media’s announcement from Egypt comes as Gaza rockets land in southern Israel.

By

 

As Gaza was rocketing the south on Wednesday afternoon, Egypt announced it had destroyed 1,370 tunnels into the Strip from the Sinai, Agence France Presse reports.

Egyptian Army soldiers patrol in Sinai.

Egyptian Army soldiers on duty in northern Sinai. – Photo: AP

 

The tunnels carry everything from rockets to food and are crucial to both Gaza’s military and its civilian economy. They run mainly under the Gazan border town of Rafah.

Egyptian authorities did not say when they began destroying the tunnels. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , ,
| February 28, 2014
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Egypt still closing tunnels, keeping the pressure on Hamas

Egyptian security personnel warn Gaza’s ruling militant group that they will be held responsible for any terrorism near their border.

By i24news

 

Egypt security officials issued a strict warning to Hamas on Friday, telling the militant group that it would not accept the use of smuggling tunnels between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula, according to a report by Israel Radio.

Vue d'un tunnel creusé en territoire israélien depuis la bande de Gaza, le 13 octobre 2013 ( David Buimovitch (AFP) )

Gaza Tunnel – David Buimovitch/AFP

Egypt also warned that Hamas would be held responsible for any incursions near the border.

Since the overthrow of Morsi, Egyptian security forces have sealed and destroyed most of the 1,200 tunnels that used to bring food, cars and weapons into Gaza. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| February 16, 2014
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Egypt Making Buffer Zone, Destroys 10 Newly Discovered Hamas Tunnels on Gaza Border

Adapting IDF protocols in security, Egypt continues its crackdown on Hamas’ treachery by destroying 10 smuggling tunnels and blowing up buildings that concealed them in it’s decision to create a sterile buffer zone on it’s border with Gaza.

By Elad Benari

 

Egypt is continuing its crackdown not only on Sinai terrorism but on Gaza’s Hamas rulers as well.

The Bethlehem based Ma’an news agency reported that Egyptian border forces destroyed 10 tunnels and seven homes in the Sinai on Saturday, as part of new campaign to create a buffer zone along the border with Gaza that would extend 500 meters in some places. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| December 9, 2013
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No longer able to smuggle stolen or cheap fuel & products from Egypt, Gaza struggles

Intended to block the smuggling of weapons, stolen goods, drugs & terrorists, Egypt’s tunnel clampdown is good for it’s security & public order, but for Hamas’ ‘gangster’ style government, many Gazans say they have never had it so tough.

By Reuters

 

Mohammed Al-Telbani, owner of one of Gaza’s biggest food factories, is the sort of businessman plucky enough to thrive despite an Israeli blockade of the Palestinian coastal enclave, but even he says he is finally running out of answers.

A Palestinian laborer in Gaza.

A Palestinian laborer works through a pile of steel reinforcement rods collected from destroyed homes in Gaza Strip on December 4, 2013.-

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , , ,
| November 5, 2013
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After Gaza ‘mega-tunnel’, UN ends Gaza projects due to building materials ban

 

Egypt’s closure of Hamas’ smuggling tunnels worsens unemployment in Gaza

By Reuters

 

The UN said on Tuesday it had halted work on all but one of its 20 Gaza building projects as a result of an Israeli ban on importing building materials into the Palestinian enclave.

Entrance to tunnel connecting between Israel and Gaza, October 2013.

Entrance to tunnel connecting between Israel and Gaza, October 2013.- Photo: Eliyahu Hershkovitz

Israel imposed the ban after discovering on October 13 a 2.5-kilometer (1.5-mile) tunnel which it said militants planned to use for attacks inside its territory. Islamist Hamas, which has run the Gaza Strip since 2007, claimed it dug the tunnel.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| October 3, 2013
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Gaza smuggling tunnels quiet with Egypt’s crackdown

 

In Pictures: Hamas’ smuggling tunnels suffer financial ruin as Egypt tightens control of border crossing, sealing fate of Gazans now stuck between Israel’s blockade & Egypt’s security lockdown.

By Associated Press

Gaza’s tunnel smugglers along the border with Egypt are mostly idle these days.

Gaza tunnels – Photo: AP

Some rest on cots in the dank underground pathways, stretching out for a smoke. Others pass the time cleaning the small carts on wheels that are normally pulled through the tunnels carrying cement or consumer goods from Egypt.

“We have no other alternative but to work in these tunnels,” said one of the workers, Hussam Rashwan. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| September 16, 2013
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152 smuggling tunnels to Gaza destroyed since July by Egyptian Army

An Egyptian Army Spokesman said that the Egyptian army was closing Gaza’s smuggling tunnels on the Egypt-Gaza border because of Hamas’ military support for Sinai jihadists.

By , and Reuters
 

 

 

The Egyptian army has destroyed 152 tunnels on the Egypt–Gaza border since the end of July, an army spokesman said Sunday.

Egyptian soldiers on Sinai border.

Egyptian soldiers stand guard on at the border between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip, July 5, 2013.- Photo: Reuters

Ahmed Ali, the spokesman, said the Egyptian army demolished buildings constituting a security threat up to a kilometer from the border. He added that Gaza-based groups were carrying out operations together with armed Islamists in the Sinai Peninsula. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| September 1, 2013
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Hamas furious over Egyptian move at creating buffer zone with Gaza

 

Egyptian families in Sinai protest after their homes were demolished to create a buffer zone with Hamas ruled Gaza.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
 

 

The Hamas government said Sunday it was “surprised” to hear that Egypt is planning to create a buffer zone along the border with the Gaza Strip.

Egyptian soldiers keep guard in Sinai

Egyptian soldiers keep guard in Sinai – Photo: REUTERS

Ehab Ghissin, spokesman for the Hamas government, said that there should be no buffer zones “between brothers and friendly countries.”

Ghissin expressed hope that the Egyptian move would not “solidify the blockade” and increase the suffering of the people in the Gaza Strip. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| July 22, 2013
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Hamas: Egypt Curtailing Our Income by Sealing Smuggling Tunnels

Gaza’s leaders are furious with Egypt for destroying their smuggling tunnels between the Gaza and the Sinai.

By Dalit Halevi & Elad Benari

 

 

The Hamas terrorist group, which controls Gaza, is upset with Egypt over its actions to shut down the smuggling tunnels which are used to transfer goods, weapons and even terrorists between the Sinai and Gaza.

Since the Egyptian military overthrew Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood movement is Hamas’s parent movement, the Egyptian army has been operating in the Sinai to eliminate terrorist cells who take advantage of the lawlessness in the region to carry out terrorist attacks.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| July 17, 2013
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Egyptian Helicopter Flies Over Gaza for 1st Time Since 6-Day War

An Egyptian army officer died & 5 other soldiers were wounded Wednesday morning in ongoing battles with Islamist terrorists in Sinai.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

One Egyptian army officer died and five soldiers were wounded Wednesday in ongoing battles with Arab terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula.

Apache helicopter – Israel news photo: IDF

With the agreement of Israel, Egypt has increased its military presence in Sinai in order to fight the terrorist presence in the region, including an AH-64-D Apache helicopter to be deployed in the eastern Sinai Peninsula.

 

Egyptian helicopter over Gaza

An Egyptian military helicopter that flew over Gaza on July 12  for the first time since the 1967 Six Day War. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , ,
| July 8, 2013
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Hamas calls on Egypt to reopen Rafah crossing & stop destroying tunnels

PLO officials in the West Bank blamed Hamas for the closure of the Gaza terminal saying Hamas’s meddling in the internal affairs of Egypt, by supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, has harmed the national interests of the Palestinians.

The official went on call on Gazans to follow Egyptian example & unseat Hamas from power.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

 

 

The Hamas government on Sunday called on the Egyptian authorities to reopen the Rafah border crossing, which was closed on Friday following a spate of terror attacks against Egyptian security forces in Sinai.

Egyptian Army soldiers guard gates of Sinai Gaza closed border crossing, May 20, 2012.

Egyptian Army soldiers guard gates of Sinai Gaza closed border crossing, May 20, 2012.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| June 28, 2013
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Egypt hurts Gaza’s tunnel smuggling operations curtailing taxes to Hamas

Egypt deploys security reinforcements & sets up roadblocks across the huge Sinai desert running from the Suez Canal east to the Gaza border, causing shortages in the Palestinian enclave and hurting smuggling taxes to Hamas’ leaders.

By

 

An Egyptian security crackdown has severely disrupted smuggling to the neighboring Gaza Strip, causing a fuel shortage, doubling the price of building materials and shutting down some construction sites in the Hamas-ruled territory.

Tunnel smugglerEgypt’s military clamped down on the lawless Sinai Peninsula, which abuts Gaza, in the run-up to mass protests planned for Sunday by Egyptian opposition activists trying to force out the country’s president, Mohammed Morsi. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| June 24, 2013
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Egypt floods more Gaza tunnels at the dismay of Hamas

Only 50 – 70 tunnels, out of hundreds that have provide smuggled weapons and taxes to Hamas are still open and in partial operation.

By REUTERS
 

 

GAZA – Egypt has intensified a crackdown on smuggling tunnels between its volatile Sinai desert and the Gaza Strip, causing a steep hike in petrol and cement prices in the Palestinian territory.

Tunnel smuggler

Palestinians involved in the tunnel business say that the campaign, which began in March and has included flooding of underground passages, was ramped up in the past two weeks before a wave of opposition-led protests in Egypt expected to start on June 30.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
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