Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations
By Saud Abu Ramadan
RAFAH TOWN, Gaza Strip, May 5 (Xinhua) -- A 16-year-old boy from Gaza City, who gave his name only as Fakher, has quit school and chose one of the most hazardous jobs in the world: a smuggler in Rafah Tunnels, the only artery supplying Gaza with goods in light of Israel's Siege.
"I know this is very dangerous, but I chose this job because it makes a lot of money," said Fakher, whose father has been jobless for 7 years. "I'm the only breadwinner of my 8-member family and any other job would not bring food on the table." Fakher said his boss is so proud of him because of his smartness and his tiny body enables him to snake and bend inside the tunnels while receiving and sending goods." I carry out the hardest missions in my work," said Fakher, whose living difficulties forced him to leave life of children and move to that of men.
The tunnels have been used to smuggle people, foreign currency, weapons, clothes, cigarettes, auto parts and electronic items from the Egyptian side of Rafah to the Palestinian areas of the Gaza Strip.
Adel, a 32-year-old owner of a tunnel in the Rafah area said nowadays they use modern machinery for the digging instead of bare hands like in the days of the Israeli occupation." The average smuggling tunnel is approximately 500 meters in length, and dozens of meters deep," said Adel who is digging a new tunnel in the same neighborhood.
"Tunnels may be equipped with wood-paneling, electricalinfrastructure, communications device, and simple elevators," hesaid, adding the building of a tunnel is estimated at 35,000 U.S.dollars.
"Of course the cost of building a tunnel has doubled, but still the owner of the tunnel can make out heaps of money each day," Adel said cheerfully.
Israel and Egypt have warned of the smuggling tunnels stretching from Rafah town in the Gaza Strip to the Egyptian part of the town, saying the Palestinian militant groups, mainly Hamas, smuggle weapons and explosives that are used against Israeli targets.
According to Israeli military sources, a significant amount of automatic rifles, RPG rockets and launchers, ammunition and explosives, used by Palestinian groups, has also been smuggled through the complex network of tunnels.
According to international and local laws, smuggling, through tunnels or any other way, is a crime that requires penalty, but tot he little Fakher, being a smuggler is some kind of a national contribution in addition with the high financial benefit."I do believe being a smuggler is a good deed to alleviate the suffering of my besieged people. I smuggle food, cloths, money and weapons that will be used against Israel. So I'm a patriot not a criminal," Fakher said proudly, breathing rings of white smoke after he inhaled an Egyptian-made cigarette smuggled through his tunnel.
Though Fakher is happy for the money he makes and the role he plays for his country, he is also afraid of being buried alive under the sand.
"Every time I get into the tunnel I feel it would be the last time. Many of my colleagues met their death in tunnel collapses and this could happen to me," he said.
Fakher said he believes that he would die someday, but he does not want this day to come at early age.
"I don't want to die now. I have a large family that has no one to support but me," he said, adding "moreover, my older brothe died in an accident two years ago and I don't want my family to get shocked again."
Of course no one knows if Fakher will die in a tunnel or he will quit working in tunnel as he quit school, but everyone believes that tunnels will continue to be a provider of the coastal strip with all kinds of goods and in all times.
