RAMALLAH, May 9 (JMCC) - Tunnel diggers in
Gaza have managed to continue their perilous and lucrative trade despite changing physical realities as Egypt builds a
steel barrier deep underground along its border with the Strip.
Every problem has a solution. The Egyptian steel barrier was a problem but we found a solution, says Mohammed, a grimy-faced Gazan tunnel digger who didn't want to give his real name.
Mohammed, covered in dust and dirt, is in the process of digging a 750m (2,460ft) smuggling tunnel from Gaza into Egypt. He says he's been digging it for 18 months.
As he hauls up a plastic container of sand with an electric winch from the metre-wide tunnel shaft, he says the new underground Egyptian barrier aimed at stopping smuggling is a joke.
We just cut through it using high-powered oxygen fuelled blow torches, he says.
The Egyptian government says it began constructing the barrier along the Gaza-Egypt border last year. When finished it is meant to be 11km-long (seven miles), stretching down 18m (59ft) underground.
According to Egypt it is made of bomb-proof, super-strength steel and is costing millions of dollars to build...
Read more at the BBC...