Tag Archive for tunnels

| February 19, 2013
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Egyptian flooding of Hamas’ smuggling tunnels adds to unemployment

Egypt’s policy to shut down the smuggling tunnels to Gaza will mean unemployment for 10,000 Palestinians.

By Reuters

 

Egypt‘s campaign to shut down smuggling tunnels running under its border into the Gaza Strip threatens to throw thousands of Palestinians out of work in the Hamas-run enclave.

Gaza Egypt smuggling tunnel

Palestinian waits for a cart containing gravel inside a smuggling tunnel beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border in November 2012. – Photo by Reuters

The network of tunnels has been a vital lifeline for Gaza, bringing in an estimated 30 percent of all goods that reach the enclave and circumventing a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt for more than seven years. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| February 14, 2013
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Morsi floods Gaza’s smuggling tunnels, hurting Hamas’ profits

Since the Muslim Brotherhood took control of Egypt, up to 200 smuggling tunnels have been closed, curtailing Hamas’ clandestine and nefarious projects.

By REUTERS

 

Egyptian forces have flooded smuggling tunnels under the border with the Palestinian-ruled Gaza Strip in a campaign to shut them down, Egyptian and Palestinian officials said.

Smuggler in tunnelReuters reporters saw one tunnel being used to bring in cement and gravel suddenly fill with water on Sunday, sending workers rushing for safety. Locals said two other tunnels were likewise flooded, with Egyptians deliberately pumping in water.”The Egyptians have opened the water to drown the tunnels,” said Abu Ghassan, who supervises the work of 30 men at one tunnel some 200 meters (yards) from the border fence.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| February 11, 2013
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Hamas profits a $1,000,000 a Day in ‘Taxes’ on Smuggling tunnels

Senior IDF officer reported Monday that Hamas is making at least a $1million a day in extortion money from Gaza smugglers.

By David Lev

 

Hamas is making at least a million dollars a day in “tax” money from Gaza smugglers, a senior IDF officer said Monday. Colonel Wael Tafesh, who is a top IDF officer in the IDF’s coordination unit with the Palestinian Authority, said that Hamas provided “protection” to smugglers and collected payments for the service, and often used the smugglers to order goods for their own use.

Smuggler in tunnelAccording to Wafesh, Hamas is in full control of what goes in and comes out of the smuggling tunnels. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| January 15, 2013
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IDF Discovers Tunnel Shaft from Gaza to Israel

During Operation Pillar of Defense airstrikes destroyed dozens of tunnels but the discovery of a tunnel that leads into Israeli territory remains a top priority.

By Annie Lubin

 

A shaft to a smuggling tunnel into Gaza was discovered Monday afternoon by IDF forces who were engaged in combat near the security fence in southern Gaza.

Tunnel into Gaza discovered by the IDF

Tunnel into Gaza discovered by the IDF – IDF Spokesperson

The IDF has launched an investigation in an effort to figure out when the tunnel was built.

IDF airstrikes during Operation Pillar of Defense destroyed dozens of smuggling tunnels leading into Gaza and the army continues to make the discovery and closure of such smuggling tunnels a top priority. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| November 9, 2012
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Gaza Tunnel Suddenly Explodes During IDF Operation

One of Hamas’ smuggling tunnels explodes in Gaza while a group of IDF soldiers work to uncover it.

By Elad Benari

 

A smuggling tunnel exploded in southern Gaza on Thursday evening, as a group of IDF soldiers were in the middle of an operation to uncover it.

One of the soldiers was very lightly wounded in the incident. An official IDF statement noted that the explosion caused damage to an empty military vehicle that was standing nearby.

IDF Spokesman Yoav Mordechai said on Thursday evening that over the past two weeks there have been a number of incidents near the border fence with Gaza, during which explosive devices had been detonated near soldiers. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| October 2, 2012
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Gazans protest Egypt’s elimination of Hamas’ smuggling tunnels

Some of the protests are now being organized by Hamas, who so far had refrained from criticizing Morsi’s gov’t.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

For the first time since the election of President Mohamed Morsi, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have staged demonstrations against the demolition of tunnels along the border with Egypt.

Some of the protests were organized by Hamas, whose leaders had thus far refrained from criticizing Morsi and the new Egyptian government.

The protests are seen as the first sign of tensions between Hamas and the Egyptians since the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

Gazans collect metal smuggled through tunnels

Gazans collect metal smuggled through tunnels – Photo: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

In recent weeks, Egyptian security forces have destroyed dozens of tunnels that Hamas and many Palestinians used to smuggle goods and people across the border.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| September 2, 2012
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600 Millionaires in Gaza, the ‘Humanitarian Disaster’

With 600 millionaires living in Gaza, mainstream media for years have reported a “humanitarian disaster” and blames Israel.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

There are 600 millionaires living in  Gaza, which mainstream media for years have reported is an “humanitarian disaster” blamed on Israel for what was a partial blockade of materials that could possibly be used to build weapons manufacturing plants and rockets aimed at Israeli civilians.

A Palestinian man moves a goat through a smuggling tunnel under the border at Rafah. – Photo: Associated Press

The blockade has been all but lifted, except for the maritime ban that a United Nations report has said is legal. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| August 14, 2012
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Hamas says to Egypt: Open Rafah crossing, We’ll close tunnels.

Report: U.S. may pass Cairo intel assistance against terrorists in Sinai. • Salah al-Bardawil, a Hamas official, says his org will stop smuggling, only if Egypt permanently opens the Rafah border crossing to Gazans

By Daniel Siryoti, Israel Hayom Staff and News Agencies

 

Hamas is prepared to stop tunnel smuggling activity between Sinai and the Gaza Strip if the Egyptians order the reopening of the Rafah border crossing, which has been closed since the Sinai terror attack last week, Hamas senior official Salah al-Bardawil said on Sunday.

Egyptian security forces arrest suspected militants in Sinai – Photo: Reuters

Egypt completely closed the border crossing to the passage of people and goods after terrorists, some of whom were suspected of coming from the Gaza Strip, attacked an army outpost in Sinai on August 5, killing 16 Egyptian soldiers.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| August 7, 2012
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Egyptian campaign: Sealing all the smuggling tunnels between Egypt & Gaza

Source says heavy equipment brought to  Rafah, “aims at closing all openings between Egypt, Gaza; Egypt PM heckled at soldiers funeral & pelted with shoes.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS

 

Egypt began work to seal off smuggling tunnels into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, a security source said, amidst an uptick in public discussions by Israeli leaders over Egypt’s willingness and capability of policing the increasingly lawless Sinai Peninsula.

A Palestinian man moves a goat through a smuggling tunnel under the border at Rafah. – Photo: Associated Press

The move came two days after gunmen shot dead 16 Egyptian border guards in an attack blamed partly on Palestinian Islamists.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 8, 2012
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IDF hopes new technology would end terrorists’ tunneling activity

Soldiers in prestigious IDF program develop system that could allow early detection of tunnels by means of sensors and oil exploration devices • Experimental deployment expected by year’s end • IDF attacks terrorist squad preparing to launch rockets.

By Israel Hayom Staff

 

The Israel Defense Forces plans to install a new underground system along the Gaza border to detect tunneling activity in its early stages, Army Radio reported Monday. According to the report, over the past several months the army has carried out a series of tests near the Kerem Shalom border crossing and declared the new technology, called “Strong Number,” a success.

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Category: Innovations & Discoveries | Tags: ,
| March 20, 2012
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Gaza’s tunnel tycoons

Some 600 new millionaires made their fortunes by smuggling goods in Gaza tunnels, at the expense of thousands of workers risking their lives. Social uprising on the way?

The Gaza Strip usually makes headlines for rocket launching and IDF raids, but the daily lives of its residents are mostly affected by poverty, unemployment, faulty infrastructure and Hamas government corruption. A new study shows that in the past five years a new class of young millionaires emerged in Gaza.

The Gaza blockade enabled many to capitalize on the smuggling of goods via the Rafah tunnels. A new class of 600 young “tunnel millionaires” made their fortunes often at the expense of thousands of workers risking their lives in the tunnels. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
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