Gaza smuggling tunnel (Archives)
Photo: AFP
Palestinian 'killed in Gaza tunnel collapse'
Medics in coastal enclave say 23-year-old tunnel digger killed along border with Egypt
A Palestinian tunnel digger was killed on Saturday when a smuggling tunnel between the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and Egypt collapsed, medics said.
The man was identified as Ashraf al-Attar, 23, who worked as a tunnel digger in the southern Gaza town of Rafah.
The impoverished territory of 1.5 million people has largely relied on a vast network of smuggling tunnels from Egypt since Israel sealed off Gaza from all but vital aid after the Islamist movement Hamas seized power in June 2007.
More than 120 Palestinians have died in cave-ins or been killed by Israeli operations targeting the tunnels since the Hamas takeover, medics say.
Egypt is currently constructing an underground steel wall on its border with Gaza to curb the smuggling of goods and munitions into the coastal enclave.
