On Saturday, Egyptian authorities found the entrances of three tunnels and confiscated a large amount of fuel about to be smuggled into the territory.

Sources say there are more than 6,000 Palestinians employed in the clandestine industry, which merchants say is heavily controlled by the Hamas authorities.

Strict rules are imposed on what can be brought into the territory - weapons, drugs and people trafficking are prohibited - and tunnel operators are taxed.

"It is the right of the Palestinian people to do whatever they can to break the siege they live under," Ehab Gheissen, a Hamas spokesman, said.

"They have a right to do whatever they can to get what they need including through tunnels but at the same time we are watching all of the things that are being brought in."

Basic necessities

The tunnels were previously used to smuggle in weapons to fight the Israeli occupation, but the blockade enforced after Hamas seized full control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 has made the smuggling of basic supplies a necessity.

Shortages have sent prices of flour and milk soaring, and the industry established around the tunnel smuggling system is now worth millions of dollars.

"These days most of the anecdotal evidence we hear is that the tunnels are being used to bring in very human items, for lack of proper medicine in the Gaza Strip," Sami Abdel Shafi, a Gaza-based business analyst, said.

"They are used to bring in shoes, chocolate and 7-Up, things like that.

"Then again all of the quantities being brought in are being blown out of proportion I feel, 1.5 million people deserve a lot more than having to operate under ground, they deserve a much better chance at operating an economy above ground."

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin visited a nondescript warehouse in Rafah where one tunnel operator was waiting for merchants to pick up the goods that they had ordered.

A diverse range of items, such as cigarettes, teacups and spare parts for motorcycles, were among the items awaiting collection.

But no matter how important the tunnels are in keeping the Palestinian economy going, there is a human cost. At least 35 people have died in the tunnels since the beginning of the year, according to the UN.

Tunnel dangers

Abu Mohammed lost his son and a brother when the tunnel they were digging fell on them. Since then he has stopped his other children from going down into the tunnels.

"What can we do, we have to eat and they were making money for the family. But now, I wont allow them to work no matter how poor we are. It's just not right," he told Al Jazeera.

Egypt is under pressure from Israel to crack down on the tunnels, some of whch are in plain sight of the border police.

Cairo says it is making efforts to halt the trade and the UN says that during a two-day period in August, 28 tunnels were destroyed by authorities.

Al Jazeera's Mohyeldin said that some Palestinians even boasted that the Egyptians will never be able to shut all the tunnels because it is also a lucrative trade for many Egyptians.

But Sami Abdel Shafi warned that longer the tunnels remained the lifeline, the more it will undermine the chances of a proper Palestinian economy being developed.

"It will have catastrophic consequences in the long term, even if it does provide or alleviate some of the need for the moment," he said.

"The Gaza Strip cannot be sustained on the operations of the tunnels."


Al Jazeera