Egypt adopts new tactic in curbing Gaza tunnels

The tunnels area on Gaza's southern border with Egypt was lively and busy with trucks mostly loaded with construction materials and food making their way through the unpaved roads out. But smugglers said Egyptian security forces have started closing some tunnels with new tactic: flooding them with waste water, noting that dozens of underground passages were flooded with sewage water, causing severe damage that takes weeks to be repaired. The tunnels acted as Gaza's lifeline between 2007 and 2010, when an Israeli blockade imposed on the coastal enclave to isolate its Hamas rulers was tight. Israel relaxed the closure later, but the tunnels remained vital supply for cheaper fuel and construction materials. Ahmed Barhoum, a resident of the Rafah border town, noted that the Egyptian crackdown focused on the neighborhoods of al-Salam and al-Barazil, to the west of Rafah crossing point. The Egyptian army and security forces flooded the tunnels with waste water last week, according to the residents and tunnels owners who live near the borders. Abu el-Bara'a, 41, who owns a tunnel used to bring in cement and gravel, said his tunnel was swamped with sewage water, but he did not give up. "From our side, we used our own pumps to get the waste and sewage water out," he said. "If Egypt and Israel destroy the tunnels, we will dig more new tunnels," he said. Asking about the easing of the Israeli blockade, the smuggler said they are insufficient. "We won't stop until Israel and Egypt lift the siege completely," he said. "We are talking with the Egyptian side about the issue and we hope they will understand our position and needs," said Salah al- Bardawil, a Hamas official, adding that "We trust the Egyptian leadership and we are sure they will not leave the Palestinian people." According to Abdel Salam Seyam, the secretary of Hamas' cabinet, the number of operational tunnels is 240, compared to 1,200 before the year 2009. Gaza-based rights group al-Mezan Center said in a recent report that since 2006, around 232 Palestinian workers were killed in the tunnels.