At least four Palestinian were killed when a tunnel under the border with Egypt and the Gaza Strip collapsed after Egyptian authorities deliberately flooded it with seawater to destroy it, the local Palestinian civil defense said Sunday after finding their bodies.
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The bodies were recovered Saturday night and Sunday morning, local Palestinian agency Ma’an quoted officials as saying Sunday. The Palestinian civil defense in Gaza said Egyptian authorities deliberately flooded the tunnel.
Underground tunnels have been essential for Palestinians to smuggle basic needs into the enclave since 2007 when Israel imposed a crippling military and economic blockade on Gaza. The blockade was maintained with the help of the Egyptian government of dictator Hosni Mubarak as he kept his border with Gaza shut.
But Mubarak did not crackdown on the tunnels and turned a blind eye to their existence, allowing them to be a vital lifeline for Gazans. His successor Mohammed Morsi, the first democratically-elected president in Egypt, opened the border with Gaza during his short-lived presidency between 2012 and 2013.
However, the current junta regime of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who came to power by ousting Morsi in July 2013, closed down the borders with Gaza and further initiated a massive crackdown on the tunnels as part of his close relationship with Israel.
A statement from the civil defense identified the men as Ali Badawi, 43, Muhammad Badawi, 21, Imad Badawi, 24, and Sami al-Tawil, 30, all residents of the Gaza Strip, Ma’an added that dozens have been killed in tunnels since the beginning of the year.
Sisi accuses Hamas, which has been in charge of the Gaza Strip since 2006, of supporting insurgents against his rule in the Sinai region bordering Gaza and Israel, allegations Hamas strongly denies.
Before the crackdown, there were an estimated 1,800 tunnels between Egypt and Gaza, according to Al-Jazeera.
As of February 2016, only a few tunnels remained partially operational between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, according to the United Nations. Human rights groups have repeatedly criticized the campaign against the tunnels.