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The Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels are passages that have been dug under the Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow strip of land, 14 km (8.699 miles) in length, situated along the border between Gaza Strip and Egypt. After the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty of 1979, the town of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, was split by this Corridor. One part is located in the southern part of Gaza, and the smaller part of the town is in Egypt. After Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, the Philadelphi Corridor was placed under the control of the Palestine Authority until 2007. When Hamas seized power in 2007, Egypt and Israel closed borders with Gaza.〔〔(Isolation of Gaza Chokes Off Trade ). Steven Erlanger. ''Herald Tribune'', 19 September 2007.〕 In 2009, Egypt began the construction of an underground barrier to block existing tunnels and make new ones harder to dig. In 2011, Egypt relaxed restrictions at its border with the Gaza Strip, allowing Palestinians to cross freely.〔(Egypt eases blockade at Gaza's Rafah border ) ''BBC News'', 28 May 2011.〕 In 2013–2014, Egypt's military has destroyed most of the 1,200 smuggling tunnels which were used to smuggle food, weapons and other goods into Gaza.〔(Egypt bans Hamas activities in Egypt ). Reuters. 4 March 2014〕 ==Background== The smuggling tunnels in the Gaza Strip are tunnels connecting both sides of the Gaza–Egypt border, used to bypass the Rafah Border Crossing, which is used for exceptional cases only, when opened at all. The first recorded discovery of a tunnel by Israel was in 1983, after Israel had withdrawn from the Sinai.〔(''Gaza's Tunnel Phenomenon: The Unintended Dynamics of Israel's Siege'' ). Nicolas Pelham, Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol 41, no. 4 (Summer 2012)〕 The border, redrawn in 1982 after the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty,〔Yale Law School. ''The Avalon Project'' ( Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt – 26 March 1979 ).〕 divided Rafah into an Egyptian and a Gazan part. The tunnels used to start from the basements of houses in Rafah on the one side of the border and end in houses in Rafah on the other side.〔 By September 2005, after withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, Israel declared that Palestinians would not have the control of their side of the checkpoint, and the Rafah crossing should be closed. During the rest of the year Egypt opened and closed the crossing intermittently. In November 2005 two agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority permitted the reopening of the crossing with third-party European Union assistance. However the movement of people would be very restricted and goods should pass through another checkpoint (Kerem Shalom), under the supervision of Israelis and monitored by EU monitors. In 2006, the Rafah crossing was opened up to June. During the rest of the year it was open during 31 days at random.〔 In mid-2007 Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip. Following the takeover, Egypt and Israel largely sealed their border crossings with Gaza, on the grounds that Fatah had fled and was no longer providing security on the Palestinian side.〔Isabel Kershner. (Abbas’s Premier Tells Israel to Reopen Gaza ). New York Times. 14 December 2007.〕 So Karni and Rafah checkpoints were closed again, resulting in "severe personal and economic hardship for Gaza's 1,4 million population", according to OCHA. Thousands of travelers have been stranded on both sides of the border.〔Sullivan, Denis Joseph; Jones, Kimberly A. (ed.) (Global ''Security Watch – Egypt: A Reference Handbook'', "The Rafah Crossing – The Border with Gaza" ), p.116-118. ABC-CLIO, 2008〕 The blockade of the Gaza Strip has caused a shortage of certain basic products, especially construction materials, fuel, some consumer articles, and medicines and medical supplies.〔(''Gaza: Chronic Shortages of Drugs and Medical Supplies'' ). Doctors Without Borders, 16 November 2011〕〔(''PCHR: Gaza leukemia patients without medicine for 11 months'' ). Ma'an News Agency, 21 November 2013〕 Import restrictions, including of basic building materials, have led to the proliferation of tunnels under the border with Egypt.〔(''Five years of blockade'' ). OCHAoPt, June 2012〕〔(''Ongoing updates: Rafah Crossing, tunnels, and the situation in Gaza'' ). Gisha, 27 August 2013〕 As Israel limits the Palestinian freedom of movement, for most Gazans the tunnels are the only way to move from and to Gaza. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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