Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels

Not to be confused with Palestinian tunnel warfare in the Gaza Strip.

Smuggling tunnel in Rafah, 2009.
Blockade of the
Gaza Strip
Crossings
2004 - 2009
2010
2011 - present

The Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels are smuggling tunnels that had been dug under the Philadelphi Route along the Egypt–Gaza border. They were dug to subvert the blockade of the Gaza Strip to smuggle in fuel, food, weapons and other goods into the Gaza Strip. After the Egypt–Israel peace treaty of 1979, the town of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, was split by this buffer zone. One part is located in the southern part of Gaza, and the smaller part of the town is in Egypt. After Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, the Philadelphi Corridor was placed under the control of the Palestine Authority until 2007, when Hamas seized power in 2007, and Egypt and Israel closed borders with the Gaza Strip.[1][2]

In 2009, Egypt began the construction of an underground barrier to block existing tunnels and make new ones harder to dig. In 2011, Egypt relaxed restrictions at its border with the Gaza Strip, allowing Palestinians to cross freely.[1] In 2013–2014, Egypt's military destroyed most of the 1,200 smuggling tunnels.[3]

  1. ^ a b Egypt eases blockade at Gaza's Rafah border Archived 29 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine BBC News, 28 May 2011.
  2. ^ Isolation of Gaza Chokes Off Trade Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Steven Erlanger. Herald Tribune, 19 September 2007.
  3. ^ Egypt bans Hamas activities in Egypt Archived 25 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Reuters. 4 March 2014