Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels are smuggling tunnels that have been dug under the Egypt-Gaza Strip separation barrier which separates Egypt from the Gaza Strip. The barrier runs along the international border along the Philadelphi corridor, which is a buffer zone along the border created by the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. The Philadelphi corridor was specified in the Oslo accords to be under Israeli military control, in order to secure the border with Egypt. When Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, the Philadelphi corridor was placed under the control of the Palestinian Authority. Then, when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip during the Battle of Gaza (2007), control of the Philadelphi corridor from the Gaza Strip side fell to the Hamas administration. In late 2009 Egypt commenced construction of an underground barrier with the aim of blocking existing tunnels and making it more difficult to create new ones, because they would have to be deeper.
Read more about Gaza Strip Smuggling Tunnels: Overview, Commerce, Tunnel Operators, Firearms and Explosive Allegations, Measures Taken Against Tunnel Smuggling
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