Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights stated that 232 Palestinians have died while 597 others have been injured due to the working accidents in the tunnels at the Palestinian-Egyptian borders in Rafah, since 2006.You mean, the tunnels aren't the lifeline for the economy of Gaza any more? Gaza is getting its needs met from imports from the Israeli side? The media seems to have missed that story.
...Al-Mezan Center demanded the government in Gaza to search into the feasibility of continuing working in the tunnels in light of the continuation of human losses and the decline of its contribution to the Palestinian economy in the Gaza Strip.
Of course, closing down the tunnels means closing down the arms trade to Hamas and other terror groups. So it isn't going to happen anytime soon until Hamas finds an alternative method of smuggling in weapons.
Another story they missed:
Terrorist organization Hamas is preventing the importation of goods into the Gaza Strip, as part the group`s policy seeking to reduce the importation of goods both from Israel and other external markets, without taking into consideration the needs and desires of the local population of the Gaza Strip.Since Hamas charges high taxes from the smuggled tunnel goods it is obvious that tax revenue is more important to them than the lives of mere tunnel workers. Too bad Al Mezan didn't notice that.
The Ministry of Economy of Hamas announced its decision to prohibit the importation of several types of goods into the Gaza Strip, via the the Israeli crossings. The list of goods includes: Office furniture, various types of food, hygienic products, gas pipes, plastic bags, plastic, and clothing.
The local population in the Gaza Strip has voiced discontent over this decision, mainly due to the fact that the Israeli goods brought into the Gaza Strip are regarded as high quality and much more durable and resistant products than the merchandise smuggled into the Gaza Strip via the smuggling tunnels in the Rafah region.
Here's another Gaza tunnel story that the media is missing:
Egyptian authorities seized over 50 tons of explosives and weapons in the Sinai that were to be smuggled in those same tunnels.
Meanwhile, exports from Gaza to Europe continue to increase, with over 300 tons of strawberries and 52,000 flowers exported only last Thursday. Last Tuesday, three buses were imported to Gaza and five trucks of strawberries were exported today.
And one more Gaza tunnel story you won't see in the mainstream media today:
A Sinai security chief said Sunday that Egypt had detained ten Palestinians entering illegally from Gaza in the past three days, and would act to round up all Palestinians without permission to enter the country.While Egypt pretends to be Hamas' best pal, the Egyptians themselves - including their security services - look at Gazans as being dangerous.
Maj. Gen. Sameeh Bashadi told Ma'an a list of names and descriptions of Palestinians who had entered Egypt through the tunnels had been distributed to all security bureaus.
He said Palestinians on the list were involved in issues related to Egypt's national security, without elaborating.