The Banter Board

In Gaza destitution is normal. There is a demand for basic goods but they are in very short supply. Israel has positioned blockades around the borders Gaza shares with other countries. So one of the best ways to move provisions into Gaza is through tunnels.

In order to pull themselves out of poverty the Palestinians were encouraged to invest in the tunnels. Investors believed that these tunnels would help them out of poverty and provide the means to smuggle in basic goods. One town that has loads of these tunnels is Rafah which shares a boundary with Egypt.

There are a lot of tunnels but Israelis end up bombing many of them so there are always tunnels under construction. There is a lot of capital to be made from operating a tunnel. Just recently two swindlers gathered currency from Palestinians in order to build a tunnel but disappeared with anywhere from $100 million to $500 million. The money is gone and there is no tunnel.

Hamas has two suspects in custody but so far the money has not been recovered.. It’s not just investors that are losing out on the tunnels but also workers. One worker didn’t get paid for three months worth of work and doesn’t think he’ll ever get compensation.

Tunnels may be money makers and life lines to the people in Gaza but they are also very dangerous. With Israel dropping bombs on the tunnels and a constant threat of cave-ins tunnel runners are always at risk. These tunnels supply not only money and goods to Palestinians but they come with a cost. father remarked “I want to go to the park at the end of the day, not go looking for my son inside a tunnel digging for a living and finding him dead inside the tunnel.”

There are actually hundreds of underground tunnels connecting Egypt to Rafah and thousands of Palestinians working on smuggling merchandise into Gaza. Israel believes it’s necessary to stop these tunnels because artillery are smuggled in, which may be true but the blockades are keeping Palestinians below the poverty line.

Joblessness in Gaza is up to 80 percent and as a result many are forced to work in the tunnels. Even children leave home to work in these tunnels and are rapidly hired because many of the tunnels are only 4 feet tall inside. Children are also recruited to dig the tunnels and many are injured or killed when the tunnel collapses with them inside. But the risks are worth it for many children. One child disclosed to have earned $100 a day for working in a tunnel.

Money is hard for these children to refuse because they come from such disadvantaged backgrounds. The money is what drives this business and many children get caught up in it. In this past year alone over 59 Palestinians have died in the tunnels, including children.

Diane Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Utah. She likes to write about the news, politics, online schools, online education, and the college experience.

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