After six mortar shells fired from Gaza landed in Israel today, Israel announced that the Kerem Shalom crossing point, through which humanitarian supplies enter Gaza, would be closed until further notice. But Egypt is at work on a more permanent measure: a steel barrier to block smugglers' tunnels used to supply the enclave.
Wednesday, angry Hamas militants from the Gaza side of the border exchanged gunfire with Egyptian soldiers, leaving one Egyptian soldier dead and at least six Palestinians wounded, several seriously. And though today's mortars caused no damage or casualties, they seemed to confirm fears that the quiet of the past few months is ending on the volatile common borders of Israel, Gaza and Egypt.
Hundreds of smuggling tunnels have been dug underneath the border between Gaza and Egypt. Since Israel's blockade of Gaza, they have provided Gazans with almost everything they need and haven't been able to get from Israel: spare car parts, cooking oil, cement, cigarettes and powdered milk , along with missiles, bullets and guns.
Eyad Baba, AP
Despite gunfire exchanges that killed an Egyptian soldier Wednesday, Egypt is continuing to build a steel barrier to thwart Gazan tunnelers.
Tunnel owners pay taxes to the Hamas government in Gaza, and thousands of workers earned $1,000 to $2,000 per month -- a princely sum in Gaza -- digging tunnels and carrying goods through. It is dangerous work, and several dozen Palestinians have died in the tunnels in the past two years. But jobs in the tunnels have been sought after nonetheless.
That economic cost is one reason Egypt's initiative to cut off the smuggling routes by building a steel barrier deep under the border enrages many Gazans. Media reports from Gaza say that more than three miles along the eight-mile-long border have already been built.
Hamas officials have denounced the Egyptian wall and are trying to rally Arab public opinion against it, charging the Egyptians with cooperating with Israel and the U.S.
"American security agents from the CIA or other security agencies are giving advice to the Egyptians," Hamas senior official Ahmed Yusuf said in an interview with Free Speech Radio News. "The Americans are funding the first wall [the separation barrier Israel is building in and around the West Bank], and I have no doubt they are funding this one."
Residents in Gaza say they're already feeling the effect of the Egyptian project. Prices are up by 10 percent to 20 percent on many consumer goods. Hamas officials have told tunnel owners that the prices of cooking gas and fuel must remain stable.
Analysts in Gaza say reaction to the Egyptian move depends on one's political perspective.
"People who support Hamas are very worried and say this will choke Gaza and people will starve," said Ahmed Abu Hamda, a Gaza journalist. "People who don't support Hamas say that in the short run it might lead to more suffering and shortages, but in the long run it will force Israel to reopen its border with Gaza."
Abu Hamda says the Israeli or West Bank manufactured goods are of a higher quality than the Egyptian ones. He also says that some of the tunnel workers are leaving their jobs, either fearful of the risk of the tunnel collapsing or fearful that once the Egyptian barrier is completed, the tunnels will not be able to function.
Egypt has not publicly explained why it is building the barrier now. Some Israeli analysts say Egypt wants to show Hamas that it is the stronger power.
"Egypt's stance does not arise from its desire to help the Israeli siege on Gaza or to respond to the United States' demand to prevent smuggling," Zvi Bar'el wrote in today's Haaretz newspaper. "It is intended to show both Hamas and Syria that just as Egypt has the power to open the border crossings at will and relieve the siege, so it can twist Hamas' arm."
Egypt is also under fire among Gazans for forcing an international aid convoy that tried to access Gaza from Egypt to divert to Israel itself.
