The measures were instituted as Hamas has nationalized at least a dozen
key tunnels that span the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Officials said the
newly-operated Hamas tunnels were meant to ensure the flow of weapons and
other contraband to the Islamic regime.
About 5,000 Palestinians, most of them teenagers, were said to work in
the weapons tunnel industry. Officials said the ministry, which has already
been taxing operators, has assessed that about 300 tunnels connect Gaza to
Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Construction of each tunnel was said to cost
between $100,000 and $200,000.
"Under the regulations, tunnel operators must sign a commitment to
compensate any worker," an official said.
Hamas has accused Egypt of pumping poison gas into the smuggling
tunnels. Officials said more than 45 Palestinians were killed in Egyptian
operations to track and destroy the tunnels, which span the divided city of
Rafah.
The Islamic regime has been under pressure from Palestinian clans in the
Rafah region to stop the Egyptian campaign. A Palestinian group said
Egyptian security forces, advised by the U.S. army, destroyed 45 tunnels
since June 2008.
