[Guardian-UK] Toni O'Loughlin - Hamas is receiving a steady revenue by licensing illicit tunnels in Gaza's south to smugglers and business people who are importing fuel and other items from Egypt. Hundreds of tents covering entrances to tunnels - big enough to transport everything from cows to industrial-size air-conditioners - have mushroomed along Gaza's border with Egypt. Many tunnels are also rigged with plastic pipes, siphoning Egypt's heavily subsidized fuel. One Gaza fuel station operator reported that by selling Egyptian fuel rather than Israeli fuel his profit was ten times greater. Smuggling has become a lucrative and entrenched part of the economy. Omar Shaban, a Gaza economist, estimates that smuggling comprises about 90% of market activity. "The tunnels are integrated into the economy." Last month, Hamas began charging tunnel owners a 10,000-shekel annual license fee.
2008-10-22 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive