Pressure to End Blockade May Stop Tunnel Smuggling

RAFAH, Egypt (June 14) -- The Red Cross today joined in growing international pressure on Israel to end its blockade of the Gaza strip, calling the three-year siege of the territory a "clear violation of Israel's obligations under international humanitarian law."

Attention refocused on the Gaza closure after Israel's raid on a flotilla two weeks ago killed nine people. In recent meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, President Barack Obama called the situation in Gaza "unsustainable."

The blockade was instituted to try to isolate Hamas, the Islamic group that came to power in Gaza after the 2006 elections. It has given rise to a thriving network of tunnels, snaking deep underneath the border between Egypt and the coastal enclave, which are used to smuggle everything from dolls to building materials and weapons, with Hamas collecting a levy.

That dynamic has changed recently as restrictions have eased on both the Israeli and Egyptian sides. Last week, Israel added more foodstuffs to the list of products permitted for entry from its side, although Hamas announced it would not let the newly listed goods through. Egypt, meanwhile, "indefinitely" opened the border June 1 to human traffic and some aid caravans.

Here at Egypt's border crossing with Gaza, Palestinians wait for hours each day to return home. On a recent morning, families laden with giant suitcases, overflowing duffel bags and boxed goods waited patiently in the blistering heat to be allowed into the Egyptian terminal building.

Some groups towed ovens, flat-screen TVs and other appliances, while others carried bundles of toys, plastic flowers and carpets. Border officials estimate a thousand people have been making the crossing every day.

For the last few weeks, Gazans able to secure exit permits have steadily trickled into Egypt. But as they return home, the goods they carry, as well as the increasing passage of international aid convoys, threatens the livelihood of tunnel workers on both sides of the divide.

Smugglers in Egypt and Gaza worry their trade will be adversely affected by returning Palestinians lugging goods bought for cheaper prices in Egypt. They know a total termination of the blockade will spell the end of their industry.

"If the border opened, there won't be any tunnels," Abu Al-Amir, a tunnel worker in Gaza, said in a telephone interview with AOL News. "If the tunnels end, no one will work."

Al-Amir said nervous conversations about what will happen if the border stays open have rippled through the smuggling community in Gaza. Although his work has not been affected, Al-Amir said, "There are people who are afraid."

Right now, it's business as usual for many of Gaza's tunnels that ferry construction materials, something neither of the borders is allowing through.

"The fundamental things we trade in don't come through the border -- building materials, aluminum, wood, copper, cement, steel," said Bea'a, another smuggler in Gaza who also spoke by phone. "Those are forbidden from entering through the border by the Egyptians."

Tunnel workers on the Palestinian side earn around $25 a day, ferrying goods through the passageways in 12-hour shifts. The work is incredibly dangerous. Tunnels collapse and there are reports of Egypt gassing tunnels, killing workers. But smugglers say the money is too good to stop. In the impoverished territory of 1.5 million, unemployment hovers at 40 percent.

The tunnel economy has already been squeezed. Since December 2009, Egypt has been building a subterranean wall in an attempt to cut off the smuggling trade. But according to workers on both sides, the wall has had limited impact. Sometimes the steel plate Egypt is lowering into the ground collapses a tunnel, but sturdier tunnels remain intact and smugglers use blowtorches to cut through. Other tunnels are too deep to be affected by the barrier.

Smugglers in an Egyptian cafe near Gaza recently discussed how the border opening has affected their trade.

"Traffic has lightened lately, since the border opened, [because] some things can go through that way -- water, food, some cement," whispered a person who asked to be identified only as Ahmed out of concern for his safety. "I used to work in the tunnels and make 300 Egyptian pounds per day [$53]. Now, there's no work ... I have only worked two times since the border opened. Before that, I worked every other day," he said, glancing toward the street outside to watch for Egyptian state security.

Abdullah, another tunnel worker who used an alias, has dire predictions for the tunnel industry if the border remains open. "In another month, you'll see there'll be nothing in the tunnels because everything goes through the border now. Building materials still go underground, [but] medicine, food, drink, hospital stuff, clothes can go through the border."

He says people coming through the border are buying goods in bulk, disrupting tunnel business. "The border opening has had more effect [than the wall]," he said. "The steel from the wall goes down but doesn't reach the tunnels; they carry on going underneath the wall. But if the border opens, everything will go in that way."

Abdullah conceded that may not be such a bad thing.

"We'll trade through the border," he said. "If it's official, it'll be better. People are spending money and dying in the tunnels."

And indeed, goods have been trickling into Gaza. During one morning at the border, AOL News watched as the Egyptian Red Crescent drove three trucks of medicine through a gate at the Gaza border.

Mohammed Shefei, a porter at the border, has seen refrigerators, washing machines, gas ovens and cleaning materials breeze through. "It's usually two of everything, TVs or refrigerators," he says.

Abu Wallah was pushing a cart toward the border with a flat-screen TV, a plastic lawn table, pillows, an office chair and a ceiling fan still in their packaging. "During the war, my house was destroyed, lots of things were lost or burnt. They don't have this in Gaza," he said, gesturing to his spoils, "and if they do, it's too expensive, maybe twice as much."

Another man, who didn't want to give his name, was returning to Gaza with two ovens, a blender and bags of smaller goods. "I was in Cairo and I bought this stuff," he said. "They have it there," he said, pointing toward Gaza, "but at four times the price."

The inflated prices of goods transported through the tunnels have brought affluence to Egyptians living near the border.

In Rafah, profit from the smuggling industry appears to be on full display. New Chevys, Hyundais, and Jeep Cherokees parked on unpaved, sand streets gleam in the sunlight. Buildings glisten with new coats of pastel paint.

Gaza is only a few miles away and the white tents that cover tunnel openings on the Palestinian side can be glimpsed from Rafah's rooftops. In the early evening, there doesn't appear to be much activity, but whether that changes depends entirely on the governments of the bordering states.