Hamas urges Egyptian army to keep tunnels open
The Islamist group Hamas appealed to Egypt's new rulers on
Thursday not to pursue its destruction of smuggling tunnels into the Gaza
Strip, warning they risked throttling the small Palestinian territory. Palestinians
say Egyptian forces have destroyed dozens of tunnels linking Gaza to Egypt
since the ousting of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. Israel maintains a
strict control of all imports into Gaza to prevent arms reaching Hamas, which
refuses to recognize the Jewish state's right to exist. Under international
accords, goods cannot be imported via Egypt, making the hundreds of smuggling
tunnels crucial for the Gazan economy.
Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Hamas Gaza government,
warned of disaster if the tunnels were shut off without other entry points
being opened. Egyptian forces stationed in the adjacent Sinai Peninsula have
regularly clashed in recent days with Islamist militants, who are demanding
that Morsi be returned to power.
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