Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Egyptian court orders Gaza tunnels destroyed

(Reuters) A Cairo court ruled that the Egyptian government must destroy all tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

The labyrinth of tunnels is an infamous smuggling route for arms trafficking.

It is also believed that 30% of the goods that reach the Gaza Strip, as well as over 1.5 million people a year, make their way through the tunnels in an attempt to bypass the blockade that has been imposed by Israel and Egypt for more than seven years.

The underground maze stretching beneath Rafah, Sinai and Gaza is said to include 450 main tunnels and 750 sub-tunnels. [...]

Egyptian forces flooded some of the tunnels earlier this month.

"The court ruled to make it obligatory that the government destroy the tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza Strip," Judge Farid Tanaghou said.

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