Egypt seizes reconstruction materials bound for besieged Gaza

Published yesterday (updated) 12/10/2009 21:40

Al-Arish – Ma'an –

Egyptian security sources said on Monday they had taken over three smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Gaza, impounded three cars, and seized several tons of goods bound for the Gaza Strip.

Since Egypt and Israel imposed a devastating blockade on Gaza in 2007, a vast network of smuggling tunnels has become the only reliable means of moving goods into Gaza.

The Cairo sources told Ma'an that several alleged smugglers fled when a raid began in the Salahuddin area along the Gaza-Egypt border, while two people were arrested elsewhere.

The first tunnel was uncovered in a vacant area about 100 meters from the Strip, they said. The forces added that they seized massive quantities of goods there, including 10 tons of cement, as well as quantities of timber and paint.

Two other tunnels were said to have been discovered in the Al-Kumbaz and Salahuddin region, but nothing else was found nearby.

Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities arrested two men and took over what they called a hidden cache of goods that was bound for Gaza's vast network of underground tunnels leading predominantly to Rafah.

Security forces said that locale contained 600 sacks and 250 cartons of sweets, as well as two cars.

The sources noted that the vehicles were not bound for Gaza themselves, but were supposedly used to move goods between the cache and the As-Sarsuria border area along the besieged coastal strip.

The cache was reportedly found in the Abu Rafa'l neighborhood of Al-Shaikh Zaweed city, and was allegedly owned by Aref Abdul-Karim Salamah, a resident of Rafah's Egyptian side.

The two detainees were identified as Sami Muhammad Salamah, 27, and his brother, Sameh, both from Ash-Sheikh Zaweed. It was not immediately clear if the two were related to the store's owner, although all three shared the same last name.

A third car discovered near the border was also impounded on suspicions it was used for smuggling, but was not thought to be linked to the prior two operations on Monday.

A security source said a total of 450 tunnels had been discovered and taken over in the past year.

It is believed that over 200 tunnels flow under the Philadelphi Corridor (the Gaza-Egypt border). These tunnels, originally built to smuggle weapons, have become a life source for Gazans, providing them with a variety of commercial goods banned by Israel and Egypt. The industry provides food, clothes, cigarettes, fuel, medicine, and hundreds of other items made scarce by the military blockade.

Israeli and Egyptian forces repeatedly make tunnel-related arrests, while Egyptian detonations and Israeli airstrikes have killed dozens of Palestinians since the blockade was imposed in full force in 2007.