The Egyptian army has demolished seven tunnels under the border with the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli blockade for the past 79 months.
The tunnels were destroyed on Saturday as a part of the military-appointed government’s campaign of tightening the noose around the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.
Sources say large quantities of clothes, pesticides, and other goods were found in a vacant house near one of the tunnels.
The Egyptian army has destroyed hundreds of tunnels since the ouster of the country’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi.
The tunnels are the only lifeline for Gazans living under the Israeli siege. Palestinians use the tunnels to bring essential supplies, such as foodstuff, cooking gas, medicines, petrol, and livestock, into the Gaza Strip.
The regimes in Tel Aviv and Cairo also repeatedly close border crossings with the besieged coastal enclave.
According to the United Nations, the Israeli regime allows only one third of the goods and commodities needed by Gazans to reach them during normal operation hours of the crossing.
The Egyptian military often closes the Rafah crossing, which is the only border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip that is not controlled by Israel.
Experts say the closure can have severe repercussions on the civilian population in Gaza.
The 1.7 million Palestinians of the Gaza Strip are living in what is called the world’s largest open-air prison as Israel retains full control of the airspace, territorial waters, and border crossings of the territory.
Gaza has been blockaded by the Israeli regime since June 2007, a situation which has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.
GJH/NN/AS
No comments:
Post a Comment