GAZA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The deposed government of Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip had launched a security plan to fully control the borderline area between Egypt and the coastal enclave, a Hamas official said Tuesday.
Ihab al-Ghussein, spokesman of the Hamas ministry of interior told Xinhua "the ministry is exerting every possible effort to keep a full control of the borderline area between the Gaza Strip and prevent more violations of the law."
The borderline area between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and Egypt has witnessed acts of smuggling through out underground tunnels the Palestinians dug under the borderline area.
Digging tunnels and smuggling goods and raw-materials had dramatically increased after Israel imposed a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of Hamas seizing control of the strip by force in June 2007.
Al-Ghussein said that the Hamas interior ministry had recently deployed dozens of national security officers in the area of the borderline between southern Gaza Strip and Egypt.
"The idea of redeploying our forces in the area is to fulfill the shortage of Egyptian security forces at the other side of the borders (Egyptian territories)," said al-Ghussein.
Witnesses in the town of Rafah in southern Gaza Strip closed to the borderline area said they saw dozens of Hamas security forces deployed in the area, which included closing the whole area to keep it under control.
Al-Ghussein clarified that the control of the borderline area won't be full because parts of the borders between Gaza Strip, Egypt and Israel are still controlled by the Israeli army.
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