Egypt destroys 1,429 tunnels in 1.5 years

Egypt has discovered and destroyed 1,429 tunnels between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula over the last one and a half years, Quds Press reported.

In a statement, the Egyptian army said that the tunnels had been used for “terrorists and criminals for cross border smuggling,” citing the seizure of large quantities of weapons and munitions during the process.

Palestinians, with the help of Egyptians, used to smuggle everyday essentials to Gaza since Israel and Egypt imposed a strict siege on the coastal enclave in 2007.

When the Egyptian army overthrew the first democratically elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on 3 July 2013, they started a fierce campaign against the tunnels and put many restrictions on the movement of Palestinians through the only Palestinian-Egyptian crossing – the Rafah crossing.