The Ministry of the Interior in the Gaza Strip has denied reports that the Hamas-run government shut down smuggling tunnels along the Egyptian border.
Interior Ministry spokesman Ihab Al-Ghussein said in a statement posted on Hamas-affiliated Web sites Wednesday that "the Palestinian government in Gaza did not issue any order to shut down tunnels along the border."
The reports are rumors and nothing more, Al-Ghussein stressed.
The tunnels provide basic needs for the people of Gaza, and amount to an exceptional workaround necessitated by the Israeli-led siege on the coastal enclave, he said.
Once the siege is lifted and the crossings are opened permanently, the government there will shut down the tunnels and declare smuggling illegal, the official added.
Earlier Wednesday, the Israeli daily Haaretz, quoting residents and tunnel operators, reported that Hamas ordered Gaza residents to shut smuggling tunnels along the border with Egypt indefinitely.
Gaza sources told Haaretz that the decision to close the tunnels was a response to an urgent request from Egyptian security services following warnings of planned attacks in the Sinai Peninsula.
Closure of the tunnels was temporary, the sources said, adding that Hamas feared Israel would bomb the tunnels if they were not shut down, according to the Haaretz report.
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