- 21 juli 2011
Mohamed Rizk Junaid 25
Qassam Brigades fighter dies in tunnel collapse
GAZA, (PIC)-- A fighter from the Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, died on Thursday morning after a tunnel used by Gaza Strip resistance forces collapsed on him.
The Qassam member who died was Mohammed Rezq Juneid, 25, from Jabalya in northern Gaza Strip, the armed wing said.
It added that his death came after an ''honorable'' armed mission and ''hard work, jihad, and sacrifice''.
In a statement, the Qassam Brigades pledged that its fighters would remain a ''shield of their homeland and people'' and would ''lead the ranks with all resolve and fortitude, a relentless will and trust in victory from Allah''.
http://fwd4.me/07Be 23 jan 2012, 20:27 , Respect -
Maria 24 juli 2011
Gaza’s Tunnels: An inside perspective
Between 30-40,000 people are employed directly by the tunnels
By Alexandra Robinson - GAZA
Tunnels have been and can be very lucrative for people. However there is no doubt work is dangerous.
“Complimentary tour of the Rafah tunnels.” I received this offer a few weeks after arriving in Gaza. In a conversation I was having with my colleague, Joe Catron, it came up that a friend of ours from Gaza City had given an open invitation for us to tour the tunnels. For the purpose of this article we’ll refer to her as “X.”
After reading about much of the controversy of the tunnels and the political obstacles they have posed for Hamas since officially taking over the operations in 2007, I jumped at the proposition.
Actually managing to get into the tunnels was not such an easy task and ended up taking Joe and I two separate attempts. Our first venture to Rafah was with X, who had initially invited us. Our other colleague from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) joined us and brought a friend of hers who was visiting Gaza from Egypt but was not officially affiliated with ISM.
Our first trip was on Sunday, July 10th. When we arrived in Rafah and approached the tunnels, a few of us were able to snap some photos of the outside of the tunnels before having our car stopped by Hamas Security. The guard first asked for our cameras. I was ready to remove my memory card and forfeit the camera, as was the other girl from ISM, however her friend was very reluctant and did not want to hand hers over to him. Our tour guide tried to explain that we were with ISM and could be trusted, but this was ineffective.
The guard grew agitated and took down the license plate number and color of our vehicle. His reaction was completely reasonable given the fact that we were a group of foreigners attempting to enter a high security area, some of us with cameras in hand. Joe and I were quite upset with our guest’s behavior. The driver tried to leave the area but the guard followed us by motorcycle and stopped us again. This time he asked for the car driver’s I.D. who was a 3rd party, completely unrelated to the organization of the trip. Our tour guide tried to give the man her I.D. instead but he refused to take it, insisting on having the driver’s I.D. The guard returned the man’s card to him and we abandoned the idea for the rest of the day.
After this initial failure, Joe and I arranged a separate trip through a different friend of ours who had a contact in Rafah that used to work in the tunnels. This contact was our tour guide for our second visit to the tunnels; we’ll call him “Y.” Our second trip to Rafah was on July 13th.
After our run-in with the Hamas official a few days before, Joe and I decided to employ some “color-coding” on our second journey. Joe wore a green Hamas baseball cap and I wore a green and white Hamas keffiyeh. This seemed to work to our advantage as our tour guide remarked after about an hour of touring the tunnels that it was “amazing no one has asked us any questions, I usually get asked lots of questions when I come here with foreigners.” The only point at which we were stopped was when we were walking to the last tunnel that Y wanted to show us, the tunnel he used to work it. A guard that spotted us walking towards this particular tunnel stopped us and asked to see our passports, thinking that we were actually trying to cross into Egypt. Our guide explained to him that we just wanted to see it for a minute and the Hamas officer laughed and let us pass.
We visited two different tunnel zones, the first one, Salah Din Gate, is right at the border with Egypt. The Egyptian side is visible and the tunnels in this area are short, on average ranging a distance of only10 to 50 meters before reaching the Egyptian side.
We visited two working tunnels in this area and one tunnel that was still being built. There are different types of tunnels, most of them are well-like structures covered by tents that are 10 to 30 meters deep. Men and goods are hoisted up and down the shaft by a cable with a rope seat that is run by a small motor. If there is no electricity the lift cannot--one of the many dangers involved in working in the tunnels is that the electricity may cut while someone or something is on the lift. Once inside the well-like tunnels it is extremely hot and there is a palette system running on a similar motorized cable as the lift that carries things through the tunnel.
We visited two tunnels that were like this. The first one was being run by two teenaged-boys. I spoke briefly with the owner-operator of the second tunnel who was a middle-aged man. He told me a little bit about himself and how he became involved in the tunnel business. He studied in New Delhi and has an MMA in Microbiology. Before Operation Cast Lead, he was working with NGO’s in Gaza City. After the economy took a downward turn he bought this tunnel with a partner for 50,000 USD. When his tunnel first opened he was making 500 to 600 USD per day. These days he finds it hard to make this much money over the course of an entire month.
The tunnels have been and can be very lucrative for people however there is no doubt that the work is dangerous. Israelis target the tunnels with rocket attacks; this was especially true during Operation Cast Lead. There are also dangers of rocket attacks after crossing into the Egyptian side. The heat and the risk of injury on the lift and the possibility that a tunnel may collapse are also problematic.
Our guide, Y, shared some of his personal knowledge of the tunnels since working in one of them 4 years ago.
The first tunnel opened in 1999 and tunnels used to be built under houses, now they’re built outside and are covered by tents. Today there are thousands of tunnels, he estimates close to 6,000 and there are still more being dug. Somewhere between 30-40,000 people are employed directly by the tunnels. In every home, every building in Gaza you fill find something that was brought through by way of these tunnels and anything found in stores that does not have Hebrew writing on it (typically Turkish or Egyptian products) have entered Gaza from the tunnels. Without having the option to purchase these other products, the Israeli blockade over the passage of goods in and out of Gaza essentially forces the population to help finance their own occupation.
However, Y sees the tunnels as a double-edged sword for Palestinians. He finds the risk of Palestinian lives and the number of people who have died while building and working in the tunnels to be a problem, but admits that people have become better at dealing safety issues over time. He also believes the tunnels are dangerous for bringing things into Gaza that, according to him, “shouldn’t be here.” After the reported death of Vittorio Arrigoni, Hamas proved that they are only able to maintain partial control of the tunnels. The tunnel area was supposed to have been “completely shut-down,” in order to prevent Vittorio’s killers from leaving. Y said that the streets were crowded and chaotic and the security measures consisted of checking people’s I.D.’s before allowing them to pass. He mentioned specifically, weapons, alcohol and other drugs. He resigns that, despite these problems, the tunnels are a necessary means for survival.
The last tunnel we visited was further away from the Salah Din Gate area in a place called “Hay Salam.” This was the tunnel that Y used to work in and was different from the well-style tunnels as it was not as deep and was wider. A large palette of Doritos had just arrived. This tunnel was just large enough for 1 or 2 people to crawl through side-by-side but there are some larger tunnels that have been built recently to transport cars and can fit 4 adults walking upright and side-by-side.
Risks and reputation aside, the tunnels seem to be functioning as a legitimate and important economic mechanism in Gaza, providing for all sectors imaginable.
After our first run in with Hamas Security I decided not to take my camera along for our second try, especially fearing that they would stop us and recognize us. After going inside to see the tunnels I regretted not bringing it since I think that, depending on the owner of the tunnel, I might have been able to convince a few of them to let me photograph it from the inside. The photos provided along with this article are from our first “failed” visit.
Alexandra Robinson
twitter Against_Empire
blog
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=47302 23 jan 2012, 20:28 , Respect -
Maria 28 juli 2011
Egyptian forces discover 5 smuggling tunnels at Gaza border
EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) -- Egyptian security forces uncovered 5 smuggling tunnels on Thursday morning and confiscated large amounts of junk metal destined to be smuggled into Gaza.
“Egyptian border guards in Rafah had received information about a group of Palestinians and Egyptians smuggling large amounts of junk metal into Gaza via a tunnel in the Al-Barahmeh neighborhood on the Egypt-Gaza border," a Ma'an correspondent said.
"A large number of Egyptian security forces rushed to the scene and found an entrance to a tunnel with around 150 large bags of around a ton and a half of junk metal that were to be smuggled into Gaza via the tunnel."
Egyptian security forces have tightened security at the tunnel while they prepare to detonate a charge to collapse it.
Two other smuggling tunnels were also found but were empty.
Egyptian security forces had also rushed to the border in Rafah after receiving information that two tunnels had collapsed.
No injuries were reported and Egyptian authorities are going to demolish the structures.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=409271 23 jan 2012, 20:29 , Respect -
Maria 3 aug 2011
Egyptian authorities blast tunnel on borders with Gaza
RAFAH, (PIC)-- Egyptian authorities blasted a tunnel on the borders with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday that was used to smuggle food and other goods into the besieged Strip.
Palestinian sources and locals in the Rafah border town said that they heard the explosion to the west of the city and that they saw smoke billowing from the targeted tunnel, but no casualties were reported.
Palestinians in the blockaded coastal enclave dug hundreds of tunnels along the Egypt-Gaza borders to smuggle all kinds of commodities and fuel that are in shortage in the Strip which has been under siege for the past five years.
http://fwd4.me/089y 23 jan 2012, 20:29 , Respect -
Maria 5 aug 2011
Gaza smugglers thriving after Mubarak
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AFP) -- The swarm of tunnel activity on the Gaza border raises clouds of fine dust, a sure sign of the boom in underground trafficking since the fall of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.
While the ousted president appeared in court this week on a stretcher, smugglers from the Palestinian territories -- under an Israeli blockade since 2006 with Egypt's tacit cooperation -- were enjoying their new-found freedoms.
"Things have changed with the situation in Egypt. It's chaos out there," said Mohammed, 27, who runs a tunnel where workers were hoisting bags of cement.
Trade in cement, which is on an Israeli list of banned goods on grounds it could be used for military purposes, have risen by up to five-fold since the political shift in Egypt.
"Now, 150 tonnes per day passes through, before it was 20 to 30," said Mohammed, sporting a mustache and cropped hair, sitting on a mat sipping coffee.
The sudden influx has dramatically slashed prices.
"A bag of cement is now worth 25 shekels ($7), at 20 bags per tonne," he said. "Before, the price had risen to 200 shekels."
"The people of Hamas do not collect taxes for the moment," the young entrepreneur said, referring to the Islamist movement that controls Gaza.
"They just check that we do not bring in illegal goods, like drugs."
But Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls Gaza, recently set up roadblocks to filter access to the border area.
It also undertook to identify the tunnels, closing those that are unfinished or abandoned in order to apply the ban on items such as drugs or alcohol, and collect a tax on other goods.
"Hamas comes to inspect every week and takes about 20 shekels ($5.60)" per tonne of cement, said a young man at another tunnel, who also identified himself only as Mohammed.
"There have been more controls in recent weeks," he added.
Tonnes of iron transit through another tunnel that is 25 meters deep and 750 meters long. Iron is now available on demand on the other side of the border.
"There was much more security on the Egyptian side before," said Mohammed, who works in a 12-man team, doing a 12-hour shift for 250 shekels ($71) per day.
The permanent opening of the Rafah passenger terminal, decreed in May by the new Egyptian government, did not dampen the smuggling, because of a lack of facilities through the legal route.
Travelers at Rafah, Gaza's only access that is not controlled by Israel, must register for permission to cross to Egypt two or three months in advance.
According to the latest weekly report of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), about 700 people on average leave Gaza through Rafah every day and 600 enter.
Nearly 30,000 have registered to go through in the coming months.
"It's hard both ways," said Rami Abu Shia, who had come to welcome his parents.
"It takes at least three hours to get in and seven to get out."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=411067 23 jan 2012, 20:29 , Respect -
Maria 24 aug 2011
Report: Egypt maps out Gaza tunnels prior to shutting them down
The Egyptian army mapped out the smuggling tunnel network connecting between the Gaza Strip and Sinai in preparation to shut them down, official sources told the Egyptian daily Al-Shorouk.
According to the report, bolstered Egyptian forces secured their side of the border in and around Rafah, and vigorously searched individuals crossing the border.
http://fwd4.me/09mI 23 jan 2012, 20:30 , Respect -
Maria 3 sept 2011
Egypt begins destroying border tunnels
Smuggling tunnels at the border with Gaza are likely being destroyed, eye witnesses have said.
Eyewitnesses added that even though there are around 1400 tunnels, only 300 are used. Many of these tunnels have not been affected by machines used to destroy them since they are internally lined with wood. Other tunnels have been dug in a way to resist attempts at destroying them.
Some sources have said that the destruction is being carried out in conformance with a deal between Egypt and Gaza to destroy all tunnels which Palestinians have failed to control
An official source said that tunnels accessed from houses in Rafah will be destroyed. These tunnels, he said, have been the hardest to shut due to their location in residential areas.
In mid August, Israel killed 5 Egyptian soldiers while pursuing Palestinian militants who had killed 8 Israelis after infiltrating Israel from Sinai. The inflitrators, according to reports, were not sent by Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip, but rather by a rival Palestinian faction. Egypt has vowed to tighten its control of the border area, and has launched a campaign in recent weeks to root out terrorists suspected of residing in the peninsula.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/491879 23 jan 2012, 20:30 , Respect -
Maria 4 sept 2011
Officials: Egyptian military closing Gaza tunnels
Three mechanized censors activated to identify tunnel locations, mark them for destruction, security officials say.
Egypt's military has began an operation to close a network of smuggling tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border following tension with Israel, security officials said Saturday.
Hundreds of tunnels snake under the 9-mile (14-kilometer) border, where smugglers bring Gaza supplies and fuel limited by an Israeli blockade. Israel charges Gaza's Hamas rulers get weapons, ammunition and rockets through the tunnels and smuggle militants out.
Officials said that this week, three mechanized sensors were activated to identify tunnel locations and mark them for destruction. Earlier efforts were confined to trying to close tunnel openings, as well as one failed effort to drive a steel wall deep into the sand.
The officials were speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
Israel and Egypt are increasingly concerned about the tunnel threat following an attack last month near Israel's southern city of Eilat, near the Egyptian border and a rising presence of Islamic militants in Egypt's Sinai desert alongside Israel.
Israel says Gaza militants entered Sinai through the tunnels and crossed back into Israel, attacking vehicles and killing eight Israelis.
Israel-Egypt relations took a hit when five Egyptian police were killed during a firefight between Israeli forces and fleeing militants. Egypt was outraged, and Israel apologized.
Previous attempts to close the tunnels before have failed to curb illicit trade and people trafficking under the border, following the blockade imposed on the seaside territory in 2007, when Hamas seized control.
The officials said the operation, which began Wednesday, is closely coordinated by the military leadership. So far, three main arteries have been detected, and one was destroyed, they said.
The officials said the tunnels will not be blown up. Instead, they will be filled with cement and water.
http://fwd4.me/0AdI 23 jan 2012, 20:30 , Respect -
Maria 5 sept 2011
Egypt denies conducting operations to destroy Gaza tunnels
Previous media reports said that Egypt had begun operations to close smuggling tunnels under its border with the Gaza Strip.
Egypt denied on Monday that it was undertaking drilling operations along the Gaza-Egypt border to destroy and seal a number of smuggling tunnels delivering supplies to Gaza.
The governor of North Sinai, General Abdel Wahab Mabrouk, said there was no campaign intended to destroy the tunnels, adding that, if there were a plan, "residents in Gaza would be informed in order to protect the lives of Palestinians that work in the tunnels."
He told the German Press Agency dpa: "The two large loading trucks which arrived on the border are property of a contractor and not the province."
Media reports said that Egypt had launched a campaign to close the tunnels. One Palestinian newspaper, al-Ayyam, described it as the largest operation since the revolution that ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February.
The newspaper reported that Egyptian security forces were using modern equipment and machines in drilling operations at the southern point of the border, near Yebna camp, and the Salaheddin Gate, at the Rafah border.
The majority of Gaza's population depends on items smuggled through tunnels to have their basic needs met, since Israel imposed a land and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2007. This has also become a lucrative business.
Israel has accused Egypt in the past of not doing enough to stop the smuggling of arms across its border, especially since the revolution.
After Israel's offensive in Gaza in December 2008, Egyptian border guards began using modern equipment and machinery provided by the United States to prevent smuggling along the tunnels.
The military presence has been beefed up in the Sinai peninsula, after Israel killed five Egyptian policemen on August 19 in airstrikes targeting Palestinian militants it had accused of infiltrating Egypt's borders and carrying out attacks on southern Israel.
http://fwd4.me/0Aj5 23 jan 2012, 20:30 , Respect -
Maria 5 sept 2011
Egypt junta to destroy Gaza tunnels
The Egyptian military has launched an operation to destroy a series of tunnels running under the country's border with the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip.
The operation started on Sunday after mechanized sensors were activated to identify tunnel locations and mark them for destruction.
The Palestinian population of Gaza, under an Israeli siege since 2007, uses the tunnels as a lifeline to acquire basic living supplies and fuel to the besieged coastal strip.
Egyptian officials say three major underground supply routes have been found and one of them has been destroyed. Witnesses say the military used stones and concrete to fill the tunnels.
Cairo claims the measure is part of a campaign to restore order in the Sinai desert, without elaborating on the linkage between the two.
The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the impoverished territory.
Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.
A humanitarian aid convoy, Gaza Freedom Flotilla, that was heading to the coastal strip on May 31, 2010, came under a military attack by Israeli navy commandos in international waters. Nine Turkish nationals were killed on the Mavi Marmara, one of the six vessels of the convoy.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/197461.html 23 jan 2012, 20:30 , Respect -
Maria 13 sept 2011
Four workers injured in tunnel collapse in Rafah
RAFAH, (PIC)-- Four Palestinian workers were injured Monday evening in the collapse of an underground tunnel on the Egypt-Gaza border, medics told the Palestinian information center.
The collapse took place in the Salam district south of Rafah city, they added.
Civil defense units managed to recover those injured and transport them to Abu Yusuf al-Najar hospital Rafah.
http://fwd4.me/0BMW 23 jan 2012, 21:31 , Respect -
Maria 18 sept 2011
Palestinian worker killed, other injured in tunnel collapse
GAZA, (PIC)-- A Palestinian worker was killed and another injured on Sunday morning in the collapse of a Gaza Strip smuggling tunnel on the border with Egypt.
The deceased, identified as Jihad al-Riyati, was pronounced dead by the Gaza Higher Committee of Emergency Medical Services, after the partial tunnel collapse in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.
More than 160 Palestinians have died in tunnel accidents. Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip have relied on those tunnels for commodities as Israel has enforced a unilateral siege on the enclave for the past five years.
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Palestinian killed in Gaza tunnel collapse
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A young Palestinian was killed and another injured on Sunday morning, after a tunnel under Gaza's border with Egyptian city Rafah collapsed on them.
The Ambulance and Emergencies Committee in Gaza identified the dead man as Jihad Irbati.
Egyptian security officials said in early September they were cracking down on the complex of tunnels used by smugglers from the coastal strip, but smugglers say the trade is booming.
Medics say over 160 Palestinians have died in the network of underground tunnels since Israel imposed a siege on the Gaza Strip in 2006.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=421088 23 jan 2012, 21:31 , Respect -
Maria 19 sept 2011
Worker killed, four injured in blast in Gaza smuggling tunnel
GAZA, (PIC)-- A Palestinian man died and four were injured Sunday in a gas cylinder explosion in a smuggling tunnel east of Salaheddin Gate in southern Gaza Strip.
Rescue teams in Rafah governorate managed to recover five tunnel workers after a blast took place inside the tunnel, killing Ashraf al-Qara, 27, from Khan Younis, said the Gaza Civil Defense’s operations department, adding that four of the men were in moderate condition.
Earlier, the Gaza higher committee for emergencies said civilians sustained serious injuries in an explosion in a tunnel on the border with Egypt, without stating the cause of the blast.
The committee later said three more injured men were recovered in the same tunnel and it surfaced that the blast was caused by a propane cylinder being transported through the tunnel.
Palestinians in Gaza rely on hundreds of smuggling tunnels to import commodities from Egypt as Israel has imposed a suffocating economic siege of the Gaza Strip for the past five years.
Hundreds of Palestinian workers have died and been injured in Israel strikes targeting those tunnels and in accident related complications.
http://fwd4.me/0Bqg 23 jan 2012, 21:31 , Respect -
Maria 19 sept 2011
Medics: 2 injured as gas canister explodes in Rafah tunnel
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) --Two Palestinians were injured on Monday when a gas canister exploded inside a smuggling tunnel running under the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Five Palestinians were in the tunnel at the time of the explosion, with two receiving critical injuries and three reported missing, Palestinian medics said.
The three missing people were later found, medics added.
On Sunday evening, a young Palestinian was killed and another injured when a smuggling tunnel between the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip and Egypt collapsed.
The Ambulance and Emergencies Committee in Gaza identified the deceased as Jihad Irbati.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=421513 23 jan 2012, 21:34 , Respect -
Maria 20 sept 2011
2 teens die from injuries after Gaza tunnel collapse
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Two Palestinian teenagers have died from injuries sustained when a smuggling tunnel under Gaza's border with Egypt collapsed on Monday, medics said.
Ashraf Al-Qarra, 17, died on Monday afternoon and Haytham Abu Radwan, also 17, died on Tuesday morning, the ambulance and emergencies committee in Gaza said in a statement.
The teenagers were injured when a gas canister exploded in the tunnel they were in.
On Sunday, a young Palestinian was killed and another injured when a smuggling tunnel between the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip and Egypt collapsed. Medics identified the deceased as Jihad Irbati.
Egyptian security officials said in early September that they were cracking down on the network of tunnels used by smugglers from the coastal enclave.
Medics say over 160 Palestinians have died in the network of underground tunnels since Israel imposed a siege on the Gaza Strip in 2006.
Under Israel's crippling blockade, the tunnels have provided a lifeline for residents of the coastal enclave.
Egypt's reopening of the Rafah border eased the impact of the siege for some residents, who were able to leave Gaza freely for the first time in years.
But the terminal is not equipped for the transfer of goods, and smugglers say trade is still booming.
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