 A Middle Eastern country is building a massive thick steel wall as a barrier between themselves and a Palestinian regime. The country is being condemned for its actions across the Arab world, denounced by Islamist figures like Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, and facing angry demonstrations at its embassies around the world. Signs with the president’s face daubed with a Star of David are waved, and furious slogans are chanted.
The new construction project, written about critically in the world press as “choking” Gaza, has been dubbed the “iron wall” and the “wall of shame.” Sound familiar? Nothing new? In fact, the situation is very new. The country that is being berated and condemned is not Israel.
The wall is being build by the Egyptian government to separate territory controlled by Egypt and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Israel is routinely charged with inhumanely and heartlessly fencing off Palestinian Gazans in a “prison,” despite the fact that Egypt’s official crossing to Gaza is also clamped shut, with the exception of a few days each month.
But with the construction of this new wall, Egypt is taking some powerful hits from within the Arab world. The wall being constructed is designed to stop the flow of smuggling between Egypt and Gaza through the border town of Rafah, an underground economy that is not limited to — but certainly includes — major weaponry and ammunition being stockpiled for terrorist attacks and to help Hamas rearm for the next war between Gaza and Israel.
Along with the weaponry brought in to replace the stockpiles decimated in Operation Cast Lead, millions of dollars worth of other commerce flows through the tunnels on a daily basis. Everything from food, to gasoline, to machinery, to farm animals. The tunnels are a major source of revenue for Hamas, which charges a premium for the construction and use of the tunnels and puts a tariff on any goods that are brought in. The planned 10 kilometer-long wall will include steel sheets that will reach 60 meters underground — an attempt to cut off the tunnels and the commerce that flourishes there. In addition to weaponry, the tunnels are also a conduit for terrorists, both reasons that the tunnels themselves were targeted in Operation Cast Lead. Construction of the wall began in early December, with the Egyptian government doing its best to keep news of it quiet for as long as possible. By mid-December, it became impossible to hide such a massive project, and news of the construction broke and began to spread. Even as reports began appearing in the media, Egypt refused to acknowledge its existence. An AP article dramatically described the construction in the same judgmental terms normally reserved for accounts of Israel’s building of barriers: A jackhammer pounded large steel beams side by side into the sandy soil on the Egyptian side of Gaza’s border, putting in place an underground wall that could shift the balance of power in this volatile area. Once completed, the steel barrier would cut off blockaded Gaza’s last lifeline. In the wake of the media attention, demonstrations condemning the Egyptian action have ensued, beginning in Jordan, where an organization of unions and professional associations protested construction of the wall.
Some 150 people gathered outside the Egyptian embassy in Amman earlier this month and burned photos of President Hosni Mubarak. The photos depict Mubarak with a Star of David stamped on his forehead. More at Pajamas Media 
 Gaza's Hamas rulers have suffered back-to-back setbacks with Israel's successful test of a rocket shield and Egypt's push to block smuggling tunnels. The Iron Dome rocket defense system, reportedly to be deployed near Gaza in May, would deprive Hamas of its main leverage against Israel – the threat of rocket salvos. Egypt's underground anti-tunnel barrier of steel beams, now under construction, could eventually cut Hamas' supply of cash and weapons. The looming double squeeze is poised to limit Hamas' options and change the rules of engagement on Gaza's volatile, blockaded borders. However, the Islamic militants remain firmly entrenched in the territory they seized from their Western-backed Fatah rivals in 2007. Hamas has already struck back against the steel wall by trying to rally public opinion against Egypt and experts warn Hamas could attempt to renew suicide attacks in Israel if rockets are intercepted. Hamas "can adjust to any new circumstances," said Ahmed Yousef, a political adviser to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, without giving specifics. He said more pressure on the movement would only make it more popular. Following IDF's cast lead operation in Gaza a year ago to stop the daily barrages, rocket and mortar fire ebbed but did not stop. Meanwhile, basic goods, cash and weapons kept coming in through tunnels from Egypt, in addition to limited humanitarian supplies Israel lets through one of its crossings into Gaza. Israel's Iron Dome and Egypt's steel wall could change the equation, analysts said. This "weakens the position of Hamas in the strip and confronts them with a challenge, on ... the Egyptian and the Israeli front," said Ephraim Halevy, former chief of the Mossad. "They will now have to devise a strategy to face up to these new developments." Israel announced Wednesday that it successfully tested the Iron Dome system, which intercepts short-range missiles of the type fired from Gaza and Lebanon. Developed at a cost of more than $200 million, it shoots down incoming rockets within seconds of their launch, the Defense Ministry said. The system is so sophisticated that it can almost instantly predict where a rocket will land, changing its calculations to account for wind, sun and other conditions in fractions of a second. Security officials acknowledged the system is expensive and will probably not be able to stop every rocket. Nonetheless, they said it is an important development in protecting Israelis and will strike an important psychological blow to Hamas. The first battery is to be deployed in May to shield the town of Sderot near Gaza, the most frequent target of rocket attacks in recent years. Uzi Rubin, a former top Defense Ministry official who was in charge of the long range anti-missile Arrow project, said changes will be profound. "Until now, we were totally exposed to anyone in Gaza who had a rocket to shoot at Israel," he said. "The ability (of Hamas) to cause losses and casualties in Israel will be greatly diminished." Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas' military wing Izzedine al Qassam declined comment on Iron Dome. A Hamas security officer in Gaza City, who is not linked to the military wing, shrugged off Israel's shield, saying it would be very expensive to shoot down every rocket. He refused to be quoted by name, in keeping with Hamas practice. Ted Postol, an expert on missile defense at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said he was not familiar with all the details of Iron Dome, but believed it could help protect small communities from direct hits. However, he said it was not clear if the system could stop a massive rocket barrage, and the high cost could also be a problem. A homemade projectile costs less than $200, he said, while intercepting one would cost around $100,000. However, experts say the cost will drop once the system is in mass production. Rubin, the former Defense Ministry official, said the shield is worthwhile anyway, citing the high human and economic cost to communities that live under rocket threat. For now, cross-border friction typical of the recent years still plays itself out. On Wednesday, Hamas loyalists clashed with Egyptian troops over Egypt's border wall. An Egyptian border guard was killed and seven Gazans were wounded in a brief exchange of fire. Egypt's Foreign Ministry issued a stern warning, saying it would not stand for another violent protest on the border. Some, meanwhile, have questioned the effectiveness of the steel wall, saying tunnel smugglers could simply dig deeper. Khaled Hroub, a Hamas expert and lecturer at Cambridge University, said he believes the recent developments will restrict Hamas' military options, but not its control over Gaza. YNet
 ISRAELI aircraft attacked at least four targets in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip early today, wounding two people in retaliation for a rocket strike on Israel, officials said. Two explosions were heard in Gaza City, one north of the city and one in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis. Palestinian medics and witnesses said all the missiles appeared to land in open fields. Two people, including a child, were lightly wounded, medics said. An Israeli military spokesman said warplanes attacked two tunnels militants were digging in the direction of Israel, apparently to infiltrate the country and carry out attacks. Israel routinely retaliates after rocket attacks from Gaza, and the latest air strikes came after a rocket hit the southern town of Netivot Thursday. There were no casualties. "We will not tolerate any attempt to disrupt the calm in Israel's southern communities," the spokesman said. The conflict ended with mutual ceasefires on January 18 last year which have largely held despite violations by both sides. The Australian
 Yet the world's hypocrisy about Israel's security fence will no doubt continue. "Mideast: Gaza, Hundreds Protest Against Egyptian Wall," from ANSAmed, December 21 GAZA, DECEMBER 21 - Today in Rafah (south of Gaza) some 700 people joined a demonstration staged in this portion of Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas Islamic radicals to protest against the underground steel barrier planned by Egypt along the only section of the Gaza Strip border that is foreign to Israel. The protesters gathered in front of the so-called Saladins Door, near the Egyptian border, but not in front of the main Rafah pass. The crowd included local residents, local Hamas activists and even one of the movements spokespersons who arrived from Gaza City, Sami Abu Zahri, who requested a halt to work in progress and the dismantling of the section of the barrier that has already been built.
During the gathering people chanted slogans inviting Egypt not to choke the people of Gaza and to help the Palestinian people, while others carried signs saying Stop the siege or Enough walls and invoked Arab solidarity. Hamas security, present in force, however avoided any excessive approach to the border and incidents of any kind. The barrier, which was created with the help of American technicians, represents Cairòs reply to the problem of underground tunnels which allow the passage of vital goods to the Gaza Strip (which has been under an almost total Israeli blockade since Hamas rose to power in 2007) in addition to weapons, militiamen and illegal aliens. According to reports referred in recent days by the BBC and by Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the project estimates a total final length of 10 kilometres for 30 metres of depth. Initially denied, the start of work was later confirmed by Cairo sources, which claimed Egypt's right to control its borders.
And they blamed Hamas intransigence for the failed agreement (where Egypt acted as middleman) over inter-Palestinian reconciliation, which is considered as one of the reasons behind the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip. With thanks to JihadWatch
 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Shots were fired from the Gaza Strip on Saturday at Egyptians installing an underground barrier meant to choke off the smuggling of goods and weapons through tunnels into blockaded Gaza. No one was reported injured in the attack, Palestinian and Egyptian officials said. But Egypt increased security in the border area after the fourth cross-border shooting since workers began building the metal barrier several weeks ago. The construction would tighten a blockade imposed on Gaza by Egypt and Israel after the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power over the tiny coastal territory in 2007. An Egyptian security official said nearly the full force of the 750-member border guard was called to the area, and dozens of additional armored vehicles were deployed near the frontier. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information to reporters. Gaza's interior minister, Fathi Hamad, said in a statement that Hamas was trying to "control" the shooting attacks. "The government confirms that it will protect Egypt's security and it is in contact with the Egyptian government," Hamad said. Egyptian officials have refused to confirm the barrier is being built. But in an interview published Saturday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit provided the first official confirmation that Cairo was reinforcing security along the border. "Whether it is a wall, sensors or tapping devices ... what matters is that Egyptian territory must be protected," the weekly al-Ahram al-Arabi quoted him as saying. "Whoever says Egypt is imposing its control on the border, we tell them this is Egypt's full right." The barrier could worsen already tense relations between Egypt and Hamas, which relies on the tunnels to skirt the blockade. Although Egypt is worried by the presence of an Islamic militant government on its border, it has been wary about choking off the tunnel networks between Gaza and Egypt's Sinai desert. It already has come under fire from Arab and Muslim countries for cooperating with Israel in blockading Gaza. FoxNews
 Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a number of different occasions in recent days at Egyptian construction workers building a steel fence meant to separate Egypt from the Gaza Strip, Egyptian media reported on Thursday.According to reports, the shootings took place near Rafah crossing and led to the temporary suspension of works. There were no reports of injuries in the incidents, and Egypt has increased its forces along the border. The Arabic BBC network reported that, according to eyewitnesses in the Gaza Strip, a number of incidents have taken place in recent days in which fire was opened at the Egyptian side of the border fence. According to various reports, fire exchanges took place between Egyptian soldiers and Gazan smugglers. Egyptian newspaper al-Gumhuriya condemned the incident Thursday morning and defended Egypt's "sovereign right" to build the fence as a means to pressure Hamas. The paper's editorial argued that the fence currently under construction is "the same fence that exists now, with invisible reinforcements being made to its foundations." According to the report, steel plates which are 50 cm think and 18 meters long are being used to reinforce the fence, as well as plates with a 35 cm thickness and 15 meter length. The paper also slammed sources from the Egyptian opposition who criticized the construction of the fence. "There are those who wish to present Egypt as a contributor to the blockade on the Palestinians by blocking arms smuggling passages. But these people forget that the smuggling of arms through the Sinai is a direct attack on Egypt's sovereignty, and on its legitimacy. "It is Egypt's right to develop the fence which separates it from Gaza and it is its right to build a fence that will be strong and not be toppled by bulldozer, as this one was when hundreds of thousands of residents of the Strip stormed it in January 2008." The Egyptian report follows details revealed last weekend, according to which Egypt is building a think steel fence, with a significant portion of it to be underground. The fence will reach a depth of 20 to 30 meters and will span many kilometers along the Egypt-Gaza border, parallel to the Philadelphi route. Meanwhile, media in Cairo reported that the Egyptian security forces uncovered 10 more smuggling tunnels linking Gaza to the Sinai on Wednesday. Palestinian websites cited eyewitnesses as saying work on the fence is currently in the stage of laying the foundations for fixing the steel plates. It seems the laying of the plates themselves has yet to begin. YNet
 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A Gaza health official says a tunnel has collapsed under the border with Egypt, killing three Palestinians. Dr. Moaiya Hassanein says their bodies were retrieved by Egyptian officials following Tuesday's collapse. Dozens of tunnels snake under the border. They are used by Gazans to smuggle in goods — from cows, to concrete and computers — that have become scarce or forbidden under a two-year-old blockade. Israel and Egypt imposed the embargo after Hamas militants took power in June 2007. Israel has bombed the tunnels to try to halt weapons smuggling, making them extremely dangerous to use. Egypt has started construction to block the tunnels. Hassanein says around 130 Gazans have been killed in tunnel collapses since the blockade began. FoxNews
 Work has begun on Egypt's northern border to dig the foundations for what reports say will be a vast underground metal wall in the latest effort to prevent weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip. Egyptian security officials have said they are digging steel tubes into the ground on their side of the border and are paving a road that will have devices along its route to monitor smuggling.
The US Army Corps of Engineers, which is reportedly involved, has worked with the Egyptians on preventing smuggling along this border for at least two years. Palestinian smugglers in Gaza have built dozens, perhaps hundreds, of underground tunnels through the sand to bring a wide range of goods into the small territory, from food to fuel to cattle, to skirt Israel's economic blockade.
Armed groups, notably Hamas, also operate more secret tunnels to bring in weapons and these are often targeted by Israeli jets. After Israel's three-week war in Gaza last January the US said it would provide technical and intelligence assistance to Egypt to stop weapons smuggling into the strip. Egypt's new wall will be about six miles long and "impossible to cut or melt", the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz said. It said construction had already begun and that large slates of steel would eventually be buried into the ground. Joint Egyptian-American patrols had been seen on the Egyptian side of the border, it said. Other reports said it would take 18 months to build. But Egyptian officials have not spoken publicly about the plan, saying they can do enough to halt smuggling without a wall. Since Israel withdrew its soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005, Egypt has been allowed to deploy 750 lightly armed border guards in the northern Sinai to patrol the Gaza border. But since Hamas won Palestinian elections in early 2006 Israel has tightened an economic blockade on the strip that has now spawned a vast smuggling industry. The tunnels are dug deep and reinforced by wooden batons. Their entrances, under large tents, can be seen dotted along the Gazan side of the border. Hamas, which controls Gaza, effectively licenses the tunnels, providing electricity, taking a tax on smuggled goods and banning the import of drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. Egypt is reluctant to take on full responsibility for Gaza's future and is under US and Israeli pressure to halt weapons smuggling. Shortly after Barack Obama was inaugurated in January, just after the Gaza war, he promised help to Egypt to stop smuggling. In early 2008 the US gave $23m in military aid to the Egyptians to stop the tunnels, sending in a team from the engineer corps to advise and train in several techniques, including ground-penetrating radar. Another plan was to build a deep canal along the border to prevent tunnelling. Guardian
 Egypt has begun constructing a huge metal wall along its border with the Gaza Strip as it attempts to cut smuggling tunnels, the BBC has learned. When it is finished the wall will be 10-11km (6-7 miles) long and will extend 18 metres below the surface. The Egyptians are being helped by American army engineers, who the BBC understands have designed the wall. The plan has been shrouded in secrecy, with no comment or confirmation from the Egyptian government. The wall will take 18 months to complete. For weeks local farmers have noticed more activity at the border where trees were being cut down, but very few of them were aware that a barrier was being built. That is because the barrier, made of super-strength steel, has been hidden deep underground. The BBC has been told that it was manufactured in the US, that it fits together in similar fashion to a jigsaw, and that it has been tested to ensure it is bomb proof. It cannot be cut or melted - in short it is impenetrable. Intelligence sources in Egypt say the barrier is being sunk close to the perimeter wall that already exists. They claim 4km of the wall has already been completed north of the Rafah crossing, with work now beginning to the south. The land beneath Egypt and Gaza resembles a Swiss cheese, full of holes and tunnels through which the Palestinians smuggle the everyday items they are denied by the blockade. But the Israelis say the tunnels are also used to smuggle people, weapons, and the components of the rockets that are fired at southern Israeli towns. The wall is not expected to stop all the smuggling, but it will force the Palestinians to go deeper and it will likely cut the hundreds of superficial tunnels closer to the surface that are used to move the bulk of the goods. BBC
 Underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip are the only way for millions of dollars worth of essential supplies to get past Israel's siege of the coastal territory. But it has now emerged that at least 40,000 Gazans have lost their life savings in a scheme that promised up to 50 per cent profits in return for an investment in tunnel trading. Hamas, which has de facto control of Gaza, returned a fraction of the $100m that disappeared through the scheme, and has said that is investigating the fraud. However, with hundreds of middlemen as yet unpunished and many of them rumoured to have had links to Hamas, the duped Gazans say that more should be done. Al Jazeera's Zeina Awad reports from Gaza. Al Jazeera
 JERUSALEM — Israeli aircraft attacked two suspected weapons-making factories and a smuggling tunnel in the Gaza Strip early Sunday in what the military said was retaliation for Palestinian rocket fire into southern Israel. The airstrikes, which wounded at least seven people — including one seriously — came despite an announcement by Gaza's Hamas rulers that the territory's military factions had all agreed to stop firing rockets. The Hamas announcement came late Saturday, after the rocket attack. Hamas' interior minister, Fathi Hamad, said the proclaimed halt in rocket fire was designed to prevent Israeli retaliation and provide stability for Gaza, which continues to suffer from the aftermath of a massive Israeli military offensive in December and January. The offensive killed some 1,400 Palestinians, according to U.N. and Palestinian estimates, and damaged or destroyed thousands of homes. Thirteen Israelis also were killed. Most of the damage in Gaza has not been repaired due to an Israeli blockade that has prevented construction materials from entering the territory. Israel said it launched the offensive to crush Palestinian rocket squads, who had severely disrupted life in southern Israel for years. While Hamas has all but halted its own rocket fire, smaller militant groups have continued to launch attacks, though the number of attacks has decreased dramatically. On Sunday, Islamic Jihad, a smaller faction responsible for much of the rocket fire, said there is "no formal truce," but confirmed it would temporarily stop its attacks. "Yes, there is a halt, but if there are attacks by the Zionist enemies, as there inevitably will be, there will be a response," said Khader Habib, a spokesman for the group. An end to Palestinian rocket attacks could be an important step toward a broader prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas. The Iranian-backed Hamas is demanding the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchanged for Sgt. Gilad Schalit, who was captured by Hamas-allied militants more than three years ago. Usama Mazeini, a Hamas official involved in the German-brokered negotiations over Schalit, told Hamas newsletter al-Risala on Saturday that the talks are close to resolving the "obstacles" that remain. He gave no further details, but the publication quoted anonymous Hamas officials as saying a deal is "reaching completion." Israeli officials declined comment. FoxNews
 No fewer than 32 children have been killed over the past three years while working in Gaza arms smuggling tunnels, according to a new report released in the Palestinian Authority.
The report, prepared by an organization called the Palestinian National Society for Democracy and Law, was released on Saturday.
It deals with the child abuse perpetrated on child laborers in the tunnels used to smuggle weapons, arms and other items from Egypt into Gaza. The report attempts to shift some of the blame to Israel, emphasizing that it examined the period since mid-2006 when Israel “imposed a blockade” on Gaza and “restricted entry of goods.” It does not mention that Egypt, too, has imposed a similar blockade on Gaza. Chinese news outlet Xinhua reports that the study also focused on child labor. It revealed that children under the age of 18 work for 12 hours a day in the tunnels, and that some of the children take a painkiller called Tramadol, as well as energy-giving drugs. A total of 117 Arabs have been killed in the tunnels during the three years, mostly from cave-ins. The cave-ins are generally blamed on Israeli air raids, Egyptian detonation of tunnel-openings in the Egyptian-governed Sinai desert, and “natural circumstances.” Source: INN
 By TAGHREED EL-KHODARY RAFAH, Gaza — Dusty sacks filled with cans of Coca-Cola were being loaded onto trucks by young boys, headed for supermarkets in Gaza City. Thousands of motorcycles were lined up on display in a nearby stadium, ranging in price from $2,000 to $10,000. The tunnels emerged as a lifeline for Gaza two years ago. Profits are high, but precarious. Israel regularly bombards the tunnels. This entrance was struck last week. At Nijma market, refrigerators, flat-screen televisions, microwaves, air-conditioners, generators and ovens filled the tents, all at inflated prices, having been spirited into this town on the border with Egypt through tunnels under the sand. Some Gazans have even purchased cars smuggled in parts into the isolated Palestinian enclave. The tunnels emerged as an essential lifeline for Gaza two years ago, when Israel imposed a political and economic embargo after Hamas took over the area. Israel did its best to obliterate them during its three-week military offensive in Gaza last winter, saying they were being used for smuggling weapons and explosives. But the builders set to work immediately after that, and with little hope of the border crossings with Israel opening anytime soon — and rich profits to be harvested — there are more tunnels now than ever, and Rafah has turned into a shopping mecca where the tunnel owners are kings. “If the siege were to be lifted,” said Osama, 22, a tunnel owner, “I would end up in intensive care.”
Osama would not give his family name, fearing he would never be able to travel legally out of Gaza if identified. Locally, he goes by the nickname of Doda, which means worm. In the past, armed gangs roamed this frontier town with a lawless feel; journalists and humanitarian workers were about the only visitors to venture here. Now, customers flock in from all over Gaza.
What started as a few clandestine tunnels dug beneath houses has turned into a booming industry that nobody bothers to hide. Before the Gaza war the tunnels numbered in the hundreds. Today about 1,500 of them are said to be crammed into an eight-mile stretch along the border, employing in the neighborhood of 30,000 Palestinians from all over the territory.
A local merchant has opened a 24-hour grocery store called “Dubai” to cater to them. Only the milk and the yogurt come from Israel. The soft drinks, beans, chocolate, cookies and cooking oil come in consignments from under the ground. Across the street Abu Raed Alarja, 58, fixes tools that are used to dig the tunnels. Inside his dark store, he also stocks cement, generators and blue plastic barrels strung together with strong ropes, used to drag goods from the Egyptian side. For the tunnel owners the profits are high, but precarious. Israel regularly bombards the tunnels in response to rocket fire, and some that are not well constructed collapse. Egypt also occasionally seals them from its side, a tactic it uses to keep Hamas in line. Hamas runs some tunnels of its own, but local residents say the group does not collect taxes from those that are privately owned. A syndicate has been formed to supervise the tunnel system and to defend the rights of workers killed on the job — at least 116 to date, according to local human rights groups. Five workers 17 to 20 years old were killed in one of Osama’s three tunnels five months ago when it collapsed because of the dryness of the sand. Osama paid the five families $2,000 each in compensation and has promised to pay an additional $7,000 each in a few months. Osama started out as a day laborer, digging tunnels from the age of 16. He graduated to running drugs and TNT through the tunnels into Gaza. Though he is a supporter of Fatah, the secular rival of Hamas, he says he supplied both parties. He was young but intimidating enough. He says he used to eat in restaurants in Gaza City and leave without paying. “Now it is different,” he said. “We fear Hamas.” For the same reason he no longer smuggles drugs or weapons, though the money he made from that illicit trade helped set him up in legitimate business. He says that each of his three tunnels cost about $300,000 to build, and that four friends helped him finance the enterprise. By night he brings in live animals, motorcycles, potato chips, Coca-Cola and clothing for women and children. But the most lucrative import is fuel, which he pumps through a pipe fixed on the ceiling of a tunnel more than half a mile long and collects in a large tank on the Palestinian side. Like any smart businessman, Osama does most of his pumping after Israel has blocked fuel supplies from its side or has bombed a few competing tunnels, lifting prices in Gaza. The tunnel owners, Gaza’s nouveau riche, say they make on average more than $1 million a year from each tunnel. Sharif Abu Daf, 30, used to work as a contractor in Gaza City until Israel closed the commercial crossings and prevented cement and other construction materials from coming in. Now he is digging to feed his wife and his six children and making 120 shekels, about $32, a day. The tunnel owners have brought little change to Rafah, which they consider a conservative backwater. Instead, they prefer to invest their money in property in Gaza City and beyond. “We make millions, but we are not educated,” said Imad, 29, one of Osama’s partners. Some local men, he noted, marry more than one wife. “If I want to invest, I’ll go to Morocco. I heard it is a beautiful place. They have a normal government.” “What’s the point of having so much money when you are not able to travel?” said Hazim, 23, another partner who started out digging tunnels. He said he wanted to go to Egypt, study business administration and then invest in Cairo. “They have never seen beyond Gaza,” said Imad’s father-in-law, Abu Mohammed, 57, of the younger generation. “They think like they are in a tunnel,” he continued. “They have never seen malls or real supermarkets like I saw in Dubai.” Source: NYT
 by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu The Israel Air Force and Hamas-controlled terrorists in Gaza fought another hit and run battle Tuesday night.
A Kassam rocket hit kibbutz fields, several hundred yards from a wedding celebration, and the IAF retaliated by bombing two smuggling tunnels. Arab sources said three people were wounded, one moderately, by air-to-ground missiles, although a French news agency reported that Arab sources said one person died in the raid. No one was wounded at the kibbutz, whose fields abut the Gaza separation fence, and no damage was reported. Witnesses in Gaza told the Chinese news agency Xinhua that F-16 jets hovered over Rafiah, which straddles the Egyptian-Gaza border, and destroyed at least two tunnels that are used to transport explosives and arms. Hamas has been using cement and other building materials, some of it approved by Israel and others smuggled in from Egypt, to rebuild its smuggling tunnel system that was severely damaged in the Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist campaign 10 months ago. Source: INN
 Tunnels used to smuggle arms, goods to Hamas-ruled territory discovered north of Rafah after tip-off from detained runner Egyptian security forces destroyed 10 tunnels used to smuggle contraband to the besieged Gaza Strip after a tip-off from a runner arrested last week, a security official said on Monday. The tunnels were found north of the Egyptian border town of Rafah late on Sunday after Mohammed al-Shaer gave details of their location, the official told AFP, adding that the tunnels were immediately destroyed. Shaer was arrested last week at the Rafah border crossing as he tried to enter Gaza on false documents. He was one of the most wanted smugglers in the area and could provide vital information on smuggling networks operating in Egypt, the official said. The Gaza Strip, under a tight blockade since Islamist Hamas seized power in the enclave in 2007, relies on international aid and products smuggled through a network of tunnels linking it to Egypt. The tunnels are also used to send in weapons. Egypt, under pressure from Israel and the United States, has taken robust measures to crack down on the smuggling.
May 20ISRAELI air force jets have staged a series of strikes on the Gaza Strip after militants fired a rocket into the yard of a house in the southern city of Sderot, Palestinians and medical sources say.Israeli planes bombed the area six times on Tuesday, targeting underground tunnels used to smuggle goods into the besieged territory. In other raids they targeted armed men belonging to Hamas, according to the Islamist group.
Israel says Gaza militants use tunnels under the Egyptian border to smuggle weapons into the Palestinian territory.
The Israeli planes also attacked two metal workshops in Gaza, injuring two people, according to emergency services. The Israeli army says the two workshops were used to make rockets.
Israeli defence forces confirmed the attacks on the tunnels.
The rocket fired earlier on Tuesday caused some damage to the yard of the house in Sderot, an Israeli city a few kilometres from the Gaza border which is regularly targeted by Palestinian rocket fire.
The Israeli military says militants have fired more than 200 rockets and mortar rounds at Israel since the January 18 end of the 22-day military offensive against Gaza which Israel says targeted Hamas, the Palestinian enclave's Islamist rulers.
More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the operation, according to Palestinian data, while 13 Israelis were killed.
Since the end of the war, Israel has launched several air raids in response to rocket fire from Gaza.
 Palestinians walk past smuggling tunnel
destroyed in Israeli strike on the
Egypt-Gaza border, 02 May 2009Israeli warplanes have bombed tunnels beneath the border between Gaza and Egypt after Palestinian militants fired rockets. The Israeli military confirmed Saturday's strikes near Rafah, but provided no further details. It launched the bombing raids after the militant group, the Palestinian Resistance Committees fired three rockets into Israel without causing any casualties. Israel also launched air strikes on Friday after Palestinian militants in Gaza fired rockets. Militant rocket fire on Israel has decreased since Egypt has been mediating between Israel and Hamas militants who rule the Gaza Strip. Israel launched a three-week military offensive into Gaza in late December, saying it wanted to stop cross-border rockets attacks by Hamas. Source: Voice of America
 Egypt has installed surveillance cameras along its border with Gaza as part of efforts to curb arms smuggling into the Palestinian territory, an Egyptian security official said.
"Alarms and surveillance cameras were installed last week along the 14-kilometre border" to detect activity through smuggling tunnels, the official said, declining to be named.
He said it was the first phase of a high-tech security system being installed with US assistance, part of a bid to bolster the January 18 ceasefire in Israel's war against the Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza.
The tunnels are also used to ferry food supplies and other necessities into the Gaza Strip, which has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since June 2007.
The United States has pledged $50 million in detection equipment to unearth smuggling tunnels and US army engineers have been providing technical assistance on the ground.
Meanwhile France has sent a frigate to patrol the waters off Gaza, where more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed in Israel's assault aimed at halting rocket attacks on its territory and arms smuggling.
Israel has reserved the right to resume attacking tunnels under the Gaza border, as it did during its 22-day offensive, after tunnel building resumed almost immediately after the ceasefire. Source: ABC Online
 From correspondents in Gaza City January 29
An Israeli warplane has bombed an area of the Gaza Strip border known to contain smuggling tunnels to Egypt, witnesses and the Israeli military said.
"An aerial attack took place against a site used to manufacture weapons in an area of the city of Rafah following the firing of a rocket into southern Israel in the evening," an Israeli army spokesman said today.
Witnesses said the attack took place in eastern Rafah, an area known to contain smuggling tunnels, and that no one was injured.
Earlier the Israeli military said a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip towards the town of Ofakim, which fell in an unpopulated area.
The rocket attack was claimed by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah faction.
Yesterday, the ruling Islamist movement Hamas said it had fired several mortar rounds at Israeli troops making an incursion into the Gaza Strip.
The first major violation of the truce which ended Israel's 22-day onslaught against Hamas in the Gaza Strip took place yesterday, when Palestinian militants killed an Israeli soldier in a bomb blast near the border.
Israel retaliated with gunfire that left one man dead, an air strike that wounded three and bombing raids on border smuggling tunnels. Source: The Australian
 WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 (AP) - (Kyodo)
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Friday signed a deal intended to halt Hamas militants' arms smuggling into Gaza in a bid to realize a cease-fire there.
The memorandum of understanding "provides a series of the steps that the U.S. and Israel will take to stem the flow of weapons and explosives into Gaza," Rice said. "The MOU we sign today is...a vital component for the cessation of hostilities," Livni added.
The signing of the deal in Washington came as Israel's offensive against Hamas continued, with Israeli airstrikes pounding the northern and southern sections of Gaza.
The deal, seen as a vital element in a broad international push to end the violence in Gaza, calls for curbing the smuggling of weapons into Gaza by boosting intelligence cooperation and border monitoring.
The Palestinian death toll from the Israeli air-and-ground offensive launched on Dec. 27 has increased to at least 1,138 and there were more than 5,100 wounded, Reuters news agency reported. Source: Breitbart
 |
|
|
Copyright Muslims Against Sharia 2008. All rights reserved.
E-mail: info AT ReformIslam.org
|
|
|
A Middle Eastern country is building a massive thick steel wall as a barrier between themselves and a Palestinian regime. 
Posts
