News / Egypt

Egypt army demolishes 20 more Gaza tunnels

Monday, 07 December 2015 2:01 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 07 December 2015 4:06 PM ]

A picture taken from the southern Gaza Strip shows diggers used by the Egyptian army working on the border between Egypt and the Palestinian territory on September 1, 2015. (AFP photo)

Egyptian military has demolished 20 more tunnels between the country and the besieged Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli blockade for the past several years.

The Gazans have been using the tunnels to bring in basic needs into the besiege enclave.

The Egyptian army said on its official Facebook page on Monday that the underground tunnels along the border with the Gaza Strip had been found and destroyed in November.

The military did not provide any further details.

This comes as dozens of people, mostly Palestinians, have lost their lives during the destruction of tunnels which has intensified since the 2013 ouster of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.

Israel and the Egyptian military have launched a campaign to destroy the tunnels, preventing the people in Gaza from bringing in most of their basic goods like construction materials, food, and fuel into the coastal enclave.

Tunnels are the only lifeline for Palestinians living under the Israeli siege and Egypt has so far laid waste to hundreds of them.

A report by the World Food Program (WFP) in February 2014 revealed that the tunnels represented "the main supply and commercial trade route for goods into Gaza" since 2007.

The WFP report added that the "closure of the tunnels by Egypt hampers the few remaining drivers of economic growth in the Gaza strip."

An AFP photo taken on September 23, 2015 shows an area where houses were destroyed by Egyptian security forces as they conducted an operation in the city of Rafah near the border with southern Gaza Strip.

Gaza has been blockaded by the Israeli regime since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standards of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty. Egypt has also imposed a siege of its own on Gaza.

Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk