Egypt crackdown closes 80% of Gaza tunnels

A United Nations official said around 80 percent of the tunnels used to smuggle goods from Egypt to the Gaza Strip are “no longer functioning” due to a crackdown launched by the Egyptian army after the ousting of former president Mohammed Morsi. The UN’s Middle East peace envoy, Robert Serry, told the Security Council that Gaza was experiencing "some serious shortages of fuel and basic building materials for which the tunnels had become the primary entry point due to severe restrictions on imports via the official crossings. Since early July when the Egyptian army deposed Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood movement is the parent movement of Gaza’s Hamas rulers, it has been operating in Sinai to eliminate terrorist cells. Part of the operations have included shutting down smuggling tunnels to Gaza which were used to smuggle food, building materials, fuel and weapons but sometimes also militants. "As a result of these actions against illegal activity, according to some estimates, 80 percent of the tunnels are no longer functioning," Serry said. "While the only Israeli crossing for goods ... has remained open and is handling increased quantities of consumers' goods, we are concerned that already difficult economic and humanitarian conditions in Gaza will further deteriorate, if access into Gaza through legal crossings of basic commodities like building materials is not liberalized," he warned. Palestinians say they need the smuggling tunnels because the area is under an Israeli siege. "We encourage all parties not to forget the precarious situation in Gaza and to take advantage of the improved context between the parties to further lift the remaining closures," Serry told the Security Council also calling on Egypt to keep open the Rafah crossing for people.