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CNEWS / AFP · 2012-08-08
Tunnel owners in Gaza warned of an economic disaster after Egypt closed the Rafah crossing and all tunnel access points following the deadly attack on Egyptian border guards in northern Sinai. The article says the tunnels are a vital channel for goods, food, construction materials, and fuel, and that a prolonged closure could paralyze construction, worsen the electricity crisis, and harm thousands of families and workers.
Tunnel owners in Gaza warned of an economic disaster after Egypt closed the Rafah crossing and all tunnel access points following the deadly attack on Egyptian border guards in northern Sinai. The article says the tunnels are a vital channel for goods, food, construction materials, and fuel, and th…
"If the closure continues, it will be a disaster," warns Abu Taha, owner of one of the countless tunnels dug under the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, all closed after a recent deadly attack in Sinai.
For this businessman in his forties, these tunnels have over the years become a lucrative source of income.
But he is now threatened with bankruptcy since around thirty armed men attacked on Sunday in northern Sinai a position held by Egyptian border guards and killed 16 of them, before being neutralized by the Israeli army near the Kerem Shalom road terminal.
This brutal attack sent shockwaves through Egypt, where the authorities immediately closed the Rafah crossing, between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian enclave's only gateway to the outside world not controlled by Israel.
In the wake of this, all access to the tunnels was closed, interrupting the lucrative activities conducted through them since the start of the blockade of the enclave imposed by Israel in 2006.
"Goods and food products pass through these tunnels, as do construction materials, and all of that is going to stop completely. We are going to be strangled, and Israel will rejoice," Abu Taha told AFP.
For Abu Mustafa, 34, owner of a tunnel specializing in construction materials, the announcement of the closure was also "an enormous shock."
"Our business is going to stop. This will harm thousands of families of tunnel owners as well as the workers," he predicts.
"We are not opposed to the security measures taken by the Egyptians and the Palestinians, but we demand the reopening of the tunnels, with perhaps a little more monitoring. But if we close the tunnels, the people of Gaza will die," he adds.
According to Palestinian security service officials, there are hundreds of tunnels in Rafah, a very extensive locality on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egyptian Sinai.
Omar Shaaban, an economist who heads PALThink, a Gaza-based think tank, estimates the tunnels' annual turnover at half a billion dollars. Closing these tunnels would have "a devastating effect on the inhabitants of Gaza," he believes.
"The Gaza Strip has become accustomed to using the tunnels as a permanent passage point and all sectors of activity depend on them," he told AFP.
Although some easing has occurred in the blockade, Israel maintains strict control over what may be imported, including many construction materials, a large part of which thus pass through the tunnels.
Their prolonged closure would cause paralysis in the construction sector and leave 15,000 workers unemployed.
"Fuel also passes through there every day and any delay in supplies can only worsen the electricity crisis and cause bakeries, factories and transport to stop," Omar Shaaban adds.
Until very recently, the Gaza Strip was experiencing its worst electricity crisis, but the situation improved considerably with the supply of substantial quantities of fuel by Qatar, via Egypt and Israel. But Sunday's attack has called everything into question again.
Long lines of cars formed on Monday near gas stations following a wave of panic.
"The Egyptians are blocking the trucks carrying food and fuel before they reach the tunnels," explains Abu Jihad, who runs a gas station.
Text © CNEWS / AFP — archived here with attribution to the source. — Machine translation for archival reference. — Original source