[q] These are excerpts from PA interviews about the Tunnel Business.
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EXCERPTS:
. . .
... the IDF's struggle against the diggers and against the owners of the
tunnels was not totally in vain. It greatly reduced the technical level of
the tunnels... . Unlike in the past, the tunnel owners, the "entrepreneurs,"
understood that there is no chance of building a tunnel that will last for
years, so they decided to go for an "instant" tunnel for one good
arms-smuggling operation, or at most two, before it would be discovered.
When the IDF left the Gaza Strip ... tension decreased tremendously ...with
the Palestinian Authority in charge of one side of Philadelphi, ...
suspicion will lead at most to a few days' interrogation and detention. ...
.
...For a few days the smuggling route moved above ground, driving down the
price of the smuggled goods by dozens of percent and leaving the tunnel
owners fearful of losing their highly lucrative source of livelihood.
. . .
"Don't worry ... the border will be closed again, the way it was. The owners
of the tunnels will see to it that it does not become wide open."
. . .
How many tunnels are below us here?
... Maybe a hundred ... but not all of them are active, especially now after
the price went down and the new situation with the Egyptians isn't clear
yet. Everyone is on hold ... ."
The smuggling market
To own a tunnel in Rafah is a profitable business. The cost of building an
average one, 800 meters long, from the nearby Brazil neighborhood ... is
approximately $30,000. Another $30,000 has to be added to the cost for
paying the owner of the house under which the tunnel is dug a great deal
of money in Gaza terms but a drop in the ocean compared to the profits a
good tunnel can yield ... .
..., there are ups and downs in the prices of the "goods." When ... the
smuggling route operated lethargically, the price of a Kalashnikov assault
rifle soared to $600. In a routine, active market the price ranges between
$250 and $300, a price that every sensible person with an instinct for
survival can afford in order to safeguard himself and his family.
When the border was breached and the smuggling proceeded freely, the price
of a Kalashnikov plummeted to below $200 almost below cost price, ... Smart
"entrepreneurs" have stopped all subterranean activity until the market ...
gets back to normal operations.
Supply and demand also affect the salary of the "moles." In "good" periods a
master excavator could make almost 50 Jordanian dinars ($70) in a day. The
first and second assistants to the team head earn between 30 and 40 dinars,
a huge salary in ... Gaza terms.
An active tunnel can yield for the entrepreneur and his partners close to
$500,000 in one smuggling operation. Just about everything is smuggled:
weapons, ammunition,
explosive charges, hand grenades, drugs and other in-demand merchandise in
the Gaza market which Egyptian merchants can offer in abundance. But not
only merchandise has passed through the tunnels. People sought by the
authorities in Egypt and there are no few of them who flee the wrath of
...the Egyptian secret service found "political asylum" in Gaza. For
20,000 d inra ($28,000), the smuggling tunnel can become an escape route.
The Rafah entrepreneurs will be pleased to offer a one-way ticket ... for
escapees from Egypt or for those wishing to return to Gaza but have been
blocked by Israel.
. . .
After a suitable house has been located under which a tunnel can be dug, the
entrepreneur negotiates its purchase with the owner. ... .
... "The entrepreneur asks the owner how much the house costs. And he tells
him, my house is worth 3,000 dinars ($4,200). Ya'ani, he exaggerated the
price of the house, which is perforated from bullets that slammed into it
all through the intifada. But the merchant does not argue. ... on condition
that you all live in one room and don't say a word about the work. ... ."
"Partnership is also possible. ... If there is a big house, in which all the
unoccupied rooms can be filled with the sand instead of dealing with
dangerous removal,
the owner haggles with the entrepreneur and demands part of the profits."
. . .
...disposing of the sacks of sand is the most sensitive task in the tunnel
business. . . . All the sand of Rafah moved to Khan Yunis."
. . .
By a rough estimate, a tunnel that is 60 centemeters wide, 80 centimetrs
high and 800 meters long will produce more than 750 tons of sand ... .
We stop near a house that was partially destroyed by a bulldozer . ... "its
nothing. People live here." ... .
. . .
"Since ... the Israelis ... being replaced by the Egyptians tunneling has
stopped ... everyone wants to see which way the wind is blowing."
The Egyptians don't kid around... "on the other side, if they find a house
where a tunnel has been dug, it is the death penalty for everyone ... we do
not go into the houses with the tunnels there, no family will agree to that.
... we leave via orchards and groves, whch are camouflaged well. There is a
liason man there who gets $1,000 just to guard the opening and open and
close it ..."
How is the cooperation on the other side arranged?
..."We have guys there who wait for s to get below them and then guide us
there so that we will get to the finishing point." By telephone? "Yes, by
telephone."
. . .
My "contact" also took advantage of ...the breached border immediately after
the IDF pullout. He bought 50 hand grenades for $250 each, he said "because
here in Gaza no one knows what tomorrow will bring."
Dr. Joseph Lerner, Co-Director IMRA [/q]
