Report: Egypt Strikes Tunnels to Gaza

Egyptian forces struck tunnels that
connect Gaza and Egypt on Saturday,
according to local residents in Rafah.
Reuters video showed explosions in the
area followed by smoke clouds in Rafah
on the border between Gaza and Egypt.
The strike explosion took place at
around sunset.
About 80 percent of tunnels used to
smuggle goods and arms into the Gaza
Strip from Egypt are no longer
functioning due to a crackdown by the
Egyptian military after it ousted
President Mohamed Morsi, a United
Nations official said in July.
Cairo moved to destroy the tunnels after
militants in the Egyptian Sinai desert
killed 16 of its soldiers a year ago. Egypt
said some of the gunmen had slipped
into Sinai from nearby Gaza, an
accusation denied by Hamas, who
controls the strip.
Gaza relies on the network of tunnels for
vital goods including fuel, cement and
food.
Hamas, which taxes much of the traffic
through the underground passages, has
been hit hard by the losses. Ordinary
Palestinians, many of them dependent
on U.N. aid handouts, have seen prices
for staple goods skyrocket.
Israel still maintains strict control of all
imports into Gaza to prevent arms
reaching Hamas, which refuses to
recognize the Jewish state and has
often clashed with it. Under international
accords, merchandise cannot be
imported via Egypt.