Egyptian army: 69 tunnels on Gazan border destroyed since March
Published Saturday 18/04/2015 (updated) 19/04/2015 18:03
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=760560

CAIRO (Ma'an) -- The Egyptian army has destroyed 69 tunnels along the border
with the Gaza Strip since Mar. 28, an Egyptian army spokesman said Saturday.

Spokesman Muhammad Samir said that Egyptian border forces stationed in the
Egyptian side of Rafah had discovered and destroyed the tunnels in
coordination with army engineers.

In a statement released last month, Samir said the army had destroyed 194
tunnels between Feb. 1 and Mar. 19, and another statement at the end of
March said that 22 tunnels had been destroyed between Mar. 20-27.

The latest 69 puts the total number of tunnels destroyed at 285 since
February.

Earlier this month, the Egyptian Cabinet approved a draft resolution
criminalizing the act of tunnel-digging along Egyptian borders with the
punishment of life imprisonment.

The smuggling tunnels have served as a lifeline to the outside world for
Gaza's 1.8 million inhabitants since Israel imposed a crippling siege on the
coastal enclave in 2007, which is supported by Egypt.

While the tunnels are used by Hamas as a source of tax revenue and inflow of
weapons, they also supply highly-demanded necessities for Gazans including
food, medicine, as well as infrastructure materials including concrete and
fuel.

Egypt has sought to destroy the tunnels as part of an ongoing security
campaign in the northern Sinai against anti-regime militants launching
attacks on Egyptian police and military personnel.

The Egyptian army stepped up the campaign after a bombing killed more than
30 Egyptian soldiers in the region in October 2014.

Egypt accuses Hamas of supporting the group that carried out the attack and
has since accelerated efforts to uncover tunnels and create a 1 km-wide
buffer zone along the border.

Around 1,110 houses on the Egyptian side have been demolished to make way
for the buffer zone and more than 1,000 families have been displaced.

Hamas, which denies Egyptian accusations, has suffered poor relations with
the Egyptian government ever since the democratically-elected Muslim
Brotherhood, with whom they were closely allied, was thrown out of power in
July 2013.

The Egyptian army has destroyed hundreds of smuggling tunnels since then,
though new ones continue to be found.

At the end of March, the longest tunnel so far was discovered, stretching
2.8 km and passing beneath three homes in the Egyptian side of Rafah.

At the time of its discovery, Egyptian military sources told Ma'an that the
tunnel was three meters below ground and was being used to smuggle people,
weapons and goods.

Although the Egyptian government dropped their classification of Hamas as a
terrorist movement in March, Palestinians continue to face closures and
restrictions at the Rafah border crossing.