29/04/2010 Hamas movement on Thursday accused Egyptian security forces of killing four Palestinians by pumping poisonous gas into a cross-border smuggling tunnel on Wednesday.
Egypt has been under pressure by Israel to seal off the hundreds of tunnels that are a key economic lifeline for the blockaded Palestinian territory.
Israel and Egypt have kept Gaza's official border crossings closed since Hamas seized control of the coastal strip in 2007 from forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who now only governs in the occupied West Bank. A Hamas security official in charge of the tunnel area along the border said the Egyptians filled the passage with some type of crowd dispersal gas.
The Hamas Interior Ministry later said in a statement the gas used to try to clear the tunnel was poisonous. Besides those killed, six people were injured, it said.
"The Interior Ministry confirms that the citizens' cause of death was the Egyptian security forces spraying poison gasses into one of the tunnels," the statement said without elaborating.
"Hamas holds the Egyptian side responsible for the killing of four innocent workers after Egyptian security forces pumped poisonous gas into one of the tunnels," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told reporters in Gaza. "We demand an investigation into the incident and for those responsible to be brought to justice."Abu Zuhri said the territory's reliance on the tunnels had been imposed on it by the border closures, which keep out all but basic humanitarian aid. "The alternative is not to kill innocent citizens but to open the crossings," he said, adding that some 40 workers had been killed by Egyptian security forces pumping poisonous gas and sewage into the tunnels.
Moreover, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said to The Associated Press, "This is a terrible crime committed by Egyptian security against simple Palestinian workers who were trying to earn their daily bread. It was a killing in cold blood. Hamas and all the Palestinian people condemn it strongly."
"We demand that Egypt explain its position about what is happening and investigate the circumstances of this terrible crime and show the truth to the entire world and hold those responsible accountable," he said.
The United States and Israel have been pushing Egypt to do more to try to close the tunnels, which provide Hamas with a lifeline helping it to stay in power in Gaza. Weapons and other contraband regularly move through the tunnels.
But the 1.5 million residents of the impoverished Gaza Strip also rely on the tunnels to bring in food and commercial goods like refrigerators and clothing.
Israeli aircraft have targeted the tunnels in bombing runs in the past, particularly during its military offensive against Gaza more than a year ago. Tunnel workers have also been killed when passageways accidentally collapsed.
Palestinian officials in Rafah say Egypt has stepped up a crackdown on smuggling in recent months, blowing up numerous tunnel entrances on its side of the border, setting up checkpoints in the area and confiscating contraband. Since December, Egypt has also been building an underground steel wall to block the tunnels.
Rafah officials have said about four miles of that barrier — covering roughly half of the border area — is already complete. The officials say the Egyptian measures have led to a sharp slowdown in tunnel traffic in recent months, pinching the local economy.
[ 29/04/2010 - 12:26 PM ]
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Movement of Hamas held Egypt fully responsible for the killing of four Palestinian workmen in Rafah area after its security forces pumped poisonous gas into the tunnel they were working in and called for investigating the incident and bringing the culprits to trial.
“We are following with deep concern the developments on the border with the Egyptian side which led to the death of four Palestinian citizens and caused serious injuries to others after the Egyptian security sprayed toxic gas in a tunnel,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told a news conference on Thursday morning.
Spokesman Abu Zuhri said it was not the first time Egypt killed Palestinian workmen in Rafah tunnels, stressing that the tunnels was a necessary step used by the besieged and impoverished Gaza people to meet their daily needs.
The spokesman added that Egypt has to open the Rafah border crossing and allow in food supplies and other vital needs instead of killing Palestinians.
Palestinian medical sources told the Palestinian information center (PIC) on Wednesday evening that four Palestinian tunnel workmen died of suffocation and seven others almost died when Egyptian forces sprayed poisonous gas into their tunnels.
For his part, spokesman for the military medical services in Gaza Adham Abu Salmiya said in a press statement to the PIC that more than 38 Palestinians have been killed so far in the area of tunnels in Rafah as a result of inhaling poisonous gas sprayed by Egyptian forces.
Abu Salmiya noted that Egypt clearly violated the international law which considers the use of lethal gas in civilian areas premeditated murder, adding that Egypt was supposed to lift the siege on Gaza and open the Rafah crossing before patients, medical supplies and important materials needed by Gaza people instead of fighting those who try to procure food for their people.
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