Remember how the international community made a big show of promising to help stop smuggling, if only the Israelis would suspend Cast Lead? And then remember how when Israel declared a ceasefire, Hamas promptly took over all the smuggling tunnels and started rebuilding their army?
Hamas has seized control of all the smuggling tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza and has been moving additional arms into the Strip since Operation Cast Lead ended on Sunday morning. During the three-week operation, the IDF destroyed 80 percent of the 300 tunnels that Hamas is believed to have dug under the 14-kilometer stretch of land separating Gaza and Egypt. Some of the tunnels were not destroyed – like the one that was filmed by foreign media on Wednesday – out of humanitarian considerations.
They’re still at it:
Gaza medics say five Palestinians have been found dead in a smuggling tunnel under the border with Egypt. Health official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain said the men suffocated in the cramped, makeshift tunnel. Local residents say they were smuggling food into the strip, which has been under a crippling blockade since the violent Hamas movement seized control there in 2007. Hassanain said the men died Saturday, but were only found on Sunday. The body of one man killed in the same incident was retrieved on Saturday making a total of five. Halting Gaza’s smuggling is a key issue in negotiations for a stable truce between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers. The tunnels are used to smuggle food and consumer products, but also to run arms.
Well technically – since Hamas controls all the tunnels – they’re mostly being used to run arms. But that’s only a temporary measure. Soon enough they’ll be in control of the West Bank and have all the US-supplied weapons they could ever need. Fatah is already freeing 80 Hamas prisoners as a good will gesture leading into unity talks. Aww!
References:
* Hamas Considering Maybe Letting Israel-Hating Turkish Forces Monitor Gaza Border [MR]
* Hamas takes control of all Gaza tunnels [JPost]
* Hamas Already Rebuilding Tunnels For The Weapons That Iran Is Already Sending [MR]
* Five Palestinians found dead in Gaza-Egypt smuggling tunnel [Ha'aretz]
* Obama: A Fatah-Hamas Unity Government Is The Best Of Both Worlds! [MR]
* PA to free Hamas prisoners in W. Bank [JPost]
Previously:
* Unilateral Israeli Ceasefire Going Exactly As Expected
* 40 Tunnels Destroyed In 4 Minutes Of Precision Bombing (Plus: Hamas Launches Hezbollah-Style Katyushas At Israeli Civilians)
* Hamas Hooks Up Smuggling Tunnels To Israeli-Supplied Electricity Grid (Plus: Hamas Online Courses Teach Math, Genocidal Terrorism)
