page_title: Blockade of the Gaza Strip
section_title: Tunnels
hierarchical_section_title: Blockade of the Gaza Strip / Land blockade / Tunnels
caption_attribution_description: English: Smuggling Tunnel, Rafah, Gaza Strip
context_page_description: The blockade of the Gaza Strip is the ongoing land, air, and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel and Egypt in 2007, after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip during the Battle of Gaza, seizing government institutions and replacing Fatah and other Palestinian Authority officials with Hamas members. Hamas had previously refused to accept the conditions set by Israel and the Quartet on the Middle East for continued aid to the PA under a Hamas government including recognition by Hamas of Israel, the disavowal of violent actions, and acceptance of previous agreements between Israel and the PA, including the Oslo Accords. After Hamas formed the PA government in March 2006, led by Ismail Haniya, Israel and the Quartet stopped having any dialogue with the PA and especially any member of the Hamas government, ceased providing aid to the PA and imposed sanctions against the PA.
  Following the Hamas takeover, Egypt and Israel largely closed their border crossings with Gaza, on the grounds that Fatah had fled the Strip and was no longer able to provide security on the Palestinian side. Egypt was worried that Hamas control over Gaza would increase Iranian influence.
context_section_description: The Gaza smuggling tunnels are mainly located at Rafah, on the border with Egypt. The tunnels connect the Egyptian town of Rafah with the Palestinian refugee camp of Rafah. As a result of the blockade, these tunnels became a vital supply artery for Gaza. They are used for various purposes, such to transport people (in and out) and commercial materials like medicine, food and clothes, cigarettes, alcohol, and vehicle parts into Gaza. They are also used to smuggle illegal arms (including rockets, mortars and explosives) to Gaza militants. Often cars are sliced into four parts and transported across and re-assembled in Gaza. Ahead of the Islamic festival, Eid al-Adha, they were used to transport live cattle.
  According to a tunnel operator, Israel bombards tunnels from the air, while Egypt either pumps poisonous gases and water or detonates explosives to destroy tunnels. During the Gaza War, Israel destroyed most of the tunnels, reducing their number to 150 (from 3,000) as of late 2009. Egypt is constructing an underground steel barrier to prevent circumvention of the blockade through tunnels.
  The UN estimates unemployment has risen from 32.5% in September, to around 40%. In addition to people directly employed by tunnels, the shortage of materials has stopped the majority of construction projects in Gaza and left many jobless.
  Following the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état, Egypt's military has destroyed most of the 1,200 tunnels used for smuggling food, weapons and other goods into Gaza. After the August 2013 Rabaa Massacre in Egypt, the border crossing was closed 'indefinitely'.
caption: Smuggling tunnel in Rafah, 2009
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