Thursday, July 22, 2010

smuggler for the Palestinians

"The smugglers who sneak consumer goods, cash and weapons into the blockaded Gaza Strip have cut hundreds of holes in an underground steel wall Egypt is building along the border to try to stop them, two Egyptian security officials said Thursday.Rare footage filmed by AP Television News showed one smuggler cutting through the barrier with a blowtorch. The smuggler, his face covered by a scarf, said it took him five hours to breach the obstacle. Hundreds of tunnels running under the Egypt-Gaza border deliver consumer goods to the Hamas-run territory, bypassing a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt three years ago. In recent weeks, Israel has eased its blockade by allowing most consumer goods into Gaza again through land crossings, and smugglers say they are more concerned about the competition from legitimate imports than about the wall." (thanks Sultan)