Israelis Destroy Gaza Smuggling Tunnels*

By MATTI FRIEDMAN
The Associated Press
Friday, November 2, 2007; 3:19 AM

JERUSALEM -- Israeli forces operating in the Gaza Strip this week
uncovered and destroyed seven tunnels used by Palestinian militants to
smuggle arms and people, the military announced.

Troops located the tunnels linking the coastal territory with Egypt
during a military operation in southern Gaza, the military said in a
statement Thursday.

The tunnels were used by the Islamic group Hamas, which rules Gaza, to
smuggle militants "to and from Egypt," and served as part of the
organization's "weapons supply mechanism," the statement said.

Smugglers operate dozens of tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border in and
around the town of Rafah, which stretches on both sides of the frontier.
The tunnels are used to run everything from contraband cigarettes to
crates of ammunition and wanted militants in and out of the besieged
territory.

The subterranean passages were originally dug to avoid the official
border crossing at Rafah, controlled by Israel, Egypt and by European
monitors. But their importance has grown since June, when Hamas took
control of Gaza and Israel imposed a blockade on the territory, closing
Rafah and all of Gaza's other border crossings to everything but
humanitarian aid.

The tunnels vary in length from 100 yards to half a mile. To avoid
detection by Israeli and Egyptian forces, smugglers conceal entrance and
exit points under the floor tiles of kitchens, inside bedroom closets
and in abandoned buildings.

Israel has complained that Egypt does not do enough to stop the flow of
arms into Gaza. Egypt has rejected the allegations, but recently said it
would make a greater effort to crack down on trafficking.

In October, Egyptian police announced that they captured three members
of an al-Qaida-inspired group in a cross-border tunnel, one of them
wearing a bomb belt meant for use in a suicide attack in Israel. Egypt
also said it uncovered two tunnels in October, seizing a cache of
weapons and ammunition, along with five kilograms of heroin.