Smuggling tunnel collapses

GAZA CITY – A smuggling tunnel under the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt collapsed yesterday, Palestinian security officials said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or details on who might have been inside at the time of the collapse, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Palestinian smugglers use hundreds of tunnels dug under the border to bring weapons and contraband goods into Gaza from Egypt.Israel says antitank missiles, tons of explosives and thousands of rifles have reached militants in Gaza through the tunnels.Palestinian militants claim to have smuggled in long-range Katyusha rockets, as well as the materials needed to upgrade their home made rockets to reach deeper into Israel.Israel’s demands that Egypt do more to stop the weapons smuggling were to figure on the agenda of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt later yesterday.Nampa-APPalestinian smugglers use hundreds of tunnels dug under the border to bring weapons and contraband goods into Gaza from Egypt.Israel says antitank missiles, tons of explosives and thousands of rifles have reached militants in Gaza through the tunnels.Palestinian militants claim to have smuggled in long-range Katyusha rockets, as well as the materials needed to upgrade their home made rockets to reach deeper into Israel.Israel’s demands that Egypt do more to stop the weapons smuggling were to figure on the agenda of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt later yesterday.Nampa-AP