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.

Historically, the Egyptian and Palestinian sides of Rafah were one city until Egypt agreed to a peace deal with Israel in 1979. In 1982, Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, and consequently, the Egyptian Rafah became politically and geographically separated from the Palestinian Rafah. Barbed-wire barriers were erected, and the Rafah land port was created to regulate movement between the two sides.

Thus, Rafah turned into two cities linked by social relations of familial and tribal nature. These relations led to the smuggling activity between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. The underground tunnels became the most obvious means of this activity.