For now at least, the Israeli military strike against Gaza has come to an end. Israel says the strike has achieved its target in undermining Hamas’s capability of firing rockets at Israeli settlements, and has destroyed most of the Palestinian-built tunnels that run underneath the Egyptian border and were used by the Palestinians to smuggle goods and arms from Egypt into Gaza. On the other hand, Hamas claims its huge triumph over Israel has compelled the Israelis to cease fire and withdraw from the Strip.
Israeli declarations claiming the destruction of the majority of the tunnels drew my attention since the tunnel issue has been, for the last couple of years, a sore point between Egypt and Israel. In the wake of the Israeli siege of Gaza and the closure of the official crossings between Egypt and Gaza, those tunnels—through which it was claimed that goods, fuel, and arms were smuggled—became the arteries which supplied Gaza with its lifeblood. Had the tunnels been used for the passage of only goods and fuel the problem would have been of limited value. The Israeli allegation that they were used to smuggle arms, however, and the consequent allegation that Egypt was to blame for failing to stop the flow of arms into Gaza—which Egypt consistently denied—complicated the problem. The tunnel file was indisputable, out of bounds of any discussion, until the recent Israeli strike disclosed its details.
Reliable reports have confirmed that the tunnels were used to smuggle only goods not arms, since light weapons are manufactured in the Strip, while the heavier weapons are smuggled in through the Mediterranean. This should remove any sensitivity involved in discussing the issue of the tunnels in a candid manner, and should also absolve Egypt of the allegation of having turned a blind eye to the flow of arms into Gaza.
The tunnels are the amazing outcome of arduous effort and unfailing activity. There were some 1200 of them, assorted according to the type of goods or fuel allotted to pass through them, and especially equipped for the purpose. The lucrative business of building and running them yielded incredibly high profits. Some were built for the express purpose of offering Hamas leaders a safe escape should they need to flee the Strip.
Almost nothing dissuades the tunnel builders. They are highly expert at using modern technology to manage the drilling with minimal error, and have succeeded in fooling the Egyptian security forces by creating several exit or entry points to the same tunnel. The huge number of tunnels have, according to reports, been the cause of anxiety among the residents on the border, who complain that the earth underneath their homes has turned too fragile and that they may be threatened with earth slides. During the recent war the Israelis used modern satellite and infra red technology to conduct repeated strikes to destroy what it could of the tunnels.
I could not help contemplating all the above in light of the ongoing controversy on the reconstruction of Gaza following the ruin wreaked by the war. Various estimations of the cost of the reconstruction have been placed by Arab, European, and US leaders; all of them at hefty values. Some have promised to directly contribute to the reconstruction efforts, others have made their contribution subject to the pre-condition of stability in the Strip, the exclusion of Hamas from authority over the Strip, or a final solution to the Palestinian problem in Gaza. Nobody suggested reconstructing the tunnels, the fate of which remains solely in the hands of those who profit from running them.
Today that the secrets of the tunnels have been made public, the sensitivities involved eliminated, and Egypt absolved of facilitating the flow of arms into Gaza; and as I imagine these tunnels being promptly repaired and new ones built; why should they not be brought into the light? If they are monitored and catalogued, they could be easily controlled to ban the flow of arms through them, and they would cease to be a hindrance to any final solution.
Or is anyone still under the delusion that the Palestinians will no longer build tunnels?