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Gaza tunnels, how did it all start?

The division of Rafah led to the creation of the tunnels, which are still being used to smuggle goods from Egypt to the Gaza Strip despite Egyptian authorities’ efforts to the contrary.
Palestinians inspect the damage after Egyptian forces flooded smuggling tunnels dug beneath the Gaza-Egypt border, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip September 18, 2015. According to Palestinian witnesses, the Egyptian authorities pumped water from the Mediterranean Sea through pipes to destroy the tunnels. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RTS1R6D

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Egypt's latest campaign to destroy the smuggling tunnels connecting to Palestine has significantly limited smugglers' efforts, which could change the types of goods being secreted across the border and the methods used to do so.

Tunnels between the Palestinian and Egyptian sides of Rafah date back to the pre-blockade era in Gaza. Smuggling operations through primitive tunnels developed according to the political and economic status of the Gaza Strip, as well as varying Egyptian policies toward the Strip.

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