Tunnel vision
RAFAH, Gaza — For many Palestinians living in Gaza, a trip to Egypt begins much as I mine did last week: down a jury-rigged elevator that lowers a rickety cage some 30 to 60 yards into the ground, leaving the occupants at the bottom of what looks disturbingly like a human version of a hamster habitat ...
RAFAH, Gaza — For many Palestinians living in Gaza, a trip to Egypt begins much as I mine did last week: down a jury-rigged elevator that lowers a rickety cage some 30 to 60 yards into the ground, leaving the occupants at the bottom of what looks disturbingly like a human version of a hamster habitat trail. Some two weeks after Egypt announced that it would permanently open its main border crossing with Gaza, this 300-yard-long tunnel was still seeing heavy traffic.
RAFAH, Gaza — For many Palestinians living in Gaza, a trip to Egypt begins much as I mine did last week: down a jury-rigged elevator that lowers a rickety cage some 30 to 60 yards into the ground, leaving the occupants at the bottom of what looks disturbingly like a human version of a hamster habitat trail. Some two weeks after Egypt announced that it would permanently open its main border crossing with Gaza, this 300-yard-long tunnel was still seeing heavy traffic.
Stepping into the tunnel, I stopped to put my hand gently against the roof and felt loose dirt crumble against my touch; ahead I could see where sandbags had been piled to stave off a partial wall collapse; above, added wooden scaffolding showed evidence of a cave-in. Gaza’s now famous smuggling tunnels are predominantly dug by hand, typically by teenage boys. Tunnels are built over and under other tunnels, often intersecting by accident, creating a haphazard, unmapped underground world where human traffic mingles with an eclectic mix of goods that range from cows to elevator parts. The engineering is questionable, collapses are frequent, and fatalities are a cost of doing business.
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