The border terminal was scheduled to remain open until Feb. 25.
"This is a widespread effort meant to eradicate the smuggling
network," an Egyptian security source said.
The crackdown, the source said, began around Feb. 6 and has disrupted
the flow of goods from the Sinai Peninsula to the Gaza Strip. Egyptian
security forces established roadblocks throughout the Rafah area and 1,000
officers began the search for tunnels and contraband in the city.
"Trucks are being checked going into Rafah, and suspicious items are
being confiscated," the source said.
"We have information that Hamas is planning a violent demonstration
along the wall," the source said.
[In Cairo, a bomb exploded in a market place frequented by Western
tourists. A French student was killed and 20 others were injured in the
bombing on Feb. 22.]
The Egyptian crackdown in Rafah has also included the destruction of
Palestinian tunnels. On Feb. 21, a Palestinian was killed and six others
were injured when Egyptian troops threw unidentified gas cannisters into a
smuggling tunnel in Rafah.
The divided city of Rafah has been connected by an estimated 800
tunnels, about 100 of them under the direct control of Hamas. Many of the
tunnels were financed by Gaza businessmen, who invested tens of millions of
dollars in exchange for the promise of a hefty return.
"A number of investors collected millions of dollars in a way that is
against Islamic law, and we will operate against them," Hamas Finance
Minister Hamas Ziyad Thatha said.
