The tunnel operations were said to have intensified amid Hamas
negotiations with Egypt for a reconciliation with the Palestinian Authority.
The Israeli sources said Hamas demanded that Egypt suspend efforts to
destroy the tunnels, now linked to the Gaza electricity grid.
About 40 Palestinians tunnels were said to have been destroyed by
Egyptian security forces since July 2008. The Egyptians were aided by U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers and American sonar equipment to detect tunnels.
"There are dozens of large tents erected on the Rafah border, and each
one of them is actually a tunnel opening," a resident of the southern Gaza
town of Rafah told the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot. "Why are [U.S.]
instruments needed when the activity of the tunnels is almost in the open?"
Hamas has imposed regulations on the estimated 250 tunnels that span the
divided town of Rafah. The regulations include compensation to Palestinians
injured in tunnel accidents and a minimum age of 18 for workers.
On Oct. 10, at least two Palestinians were killed in an explosion of a
tunnel. Palestinian sources said the explosion was that of a natural gas
tank. In all, nearly 50 Palestinians, most of them children, have been
killed in tunnel accidents in 2008.
"We are watching what is coming through and we prevent the entry of
weapons and drugs," Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Ihab Hussein said.
Palestinian sources said the Hamas regime has allowed former Fatah
officers to construct tunnels. The sources identified Abu Khalid, a former
officer of Force 17, the praetorian guard to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Abu Khalid has been constructing three tunnels for Hamas. The sources
said a 12-member construction crew, on 24-hour per day duty, was allocated
for each tunnel. Each crew member, usually a teenager, earns about $15 per
day.
