Egypt army destroys dozens of Gaza tunnels
Egypt has announced that its army had destroyed 31 tunnels connecting the besieged Gaza Strip and Egypt last month, an army spokesman has said.
In October, Egyptian forces "discovered and successfully destroyed 31 tunnels on the border line of Rafah city", army spokesman Brigadier-General Mohamed Samir said in a statement on Sunday, referring to a city that straddles the Egypt-Gaza border. The Egyptian army's announcement came the same day as a meeting between Sisi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a political rival of Hamas, in Cairo. President Abdel Fatah Sisi said that Egypt's measures in the Gaza border area were intended to "secure the borders" and that the Rafah crossing could operate "normally" if the PA were to take control of it. Home to some 1.8 million Palestinians, Gaza has suffered a plummeting humanitarian situation due to an airtight blockade.Enforced by Israel and the Egypt, the blockade has been place since the Hamas political organisation took control of the Strip in 2007. For Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave, smuggling tunnels provide access to food, medicine, building supplies and other necessities. Palestinians in Gaza are in desperate need of humanitarian and building supplies, as much of the area still lay in ruins after Israel's 51-day war in the Strip last summer. That war killed more than 2,200 Palestinians and left an estimated 96,000 destroyed or damaged, according to United Nations' estimates. Since Sisi came to power in Egypt after the 2013 ouster of democratically-elected Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt has implemented increasingly harsh measures on the Gaza border. Harm and suffering' Noting that Hamas is an affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mukhaimer Abu Saada, a political analyst and professor at Gaza's al-Azhar University, said that Egypt "tried to demonise and outlaw the Muslim Brotherhood" and "weaken Hamas". "The Egyptian policy is to corner Hamas and squeeze it for concessions," he told Al Jazeera. "This policy won't succeed; Israel has tried for more than eight years and it has failed." Abu Saada said that the crackdown on Hamas "only hurts the 1.8 million-person civilian population in Gaza at the end of the day" by causing "immense harm and suffering". A recent report published by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTD) found that 72 percent of Gaza families are still struggling with food insecurity, while unemployment is at a record high of 44 percent. Egyptian authorities regularly close Rafah, the crossing between Gaza and Egypt, and it has rarely been opened for normal crossing since Israel's war in Gaza concluded in late August 2014.
Last month 31 tunnels connecting Gaza and Egypt has been destroyed by the Egyptian military. the purpose of destroying these tunnels was to secure Egyptian borders. In addition to that statement, the Blockade that has been put on Gaza by the Israelis and Egyptians have caused serious humanitarian issues. furthermore the article also states the situation of Egypt after the election of Abdel Fatah Sisi and how the Egypt has increased the harsh blockade on the Gaza border and how the tunnel system supplied Gaza with food and medical supplies. In summary, the Situation for Gaza has just been worsened since their way of receive supplies have been cut by the Egyptians. Although, the Egyptians state that these actions are to corner the Hamas and to control their border their actions are resulting in people short in supply. when it comes to my opinion I believe Egypt destroying these tunnels will make matters worst for Gaza and is causing huge humanitarian problems. I also believe this issue would attract readers who share concerns on Gaza.
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