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Despite Egyptian Campaign, Gaza Border Tunnels Resume Smuggling Activity
(Al-Monitor) Rasha Abou Jalal - Despite Egypt's largely successful security campaign launched in 2013 against the border tunnels in Rafah in southern Gaza, sources in Rafah told Al-Monitor of Palestinian attempts to restore some of the destroyed tunnels. Palestinian organizations, along with large families in Rafah, had dug hundreds of tunnels along the 9-mile border with Egypt, making huge profits by smuggling and selling Egyptian goods in Gaza. Egypt established a 1-mile-deep buffer zone, flooded the area with water from the Mediterranean, and built two walls. The source explained that Palestinian families are involved in attempts to smuggle goods, especially cigarettes, honey, fuel and spare parts for various types of machinery that are blocked by Egypt and Israel, in addition to goods available in Egypt at a low price and sold in Gaza at exorbitant prices, such as cosmetics. Many of these tunnels became operational just weeks ago.