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| Africa North |
| Egypt discovers iron tunnel network under Gaza border |
| 2015-11-29 |
| [Ynet] Massive network of 'extremely expensive' tunnels with 40cm-thick iron walls discovered on Egyptian side of the border, which Cairo claims was built by Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, and funded by Qatar. Egyptian border guards discovered a first of its kind underground tunnel network made of iron under the country's border with Gazoo on Friday, according to Egyptian security officials. The tunnel was discovered at a depth of 10 meters near the northern part of the Rafah crossing, which connects the Gazoo Strip to the Sinai Peninsula. Egyptian forces destroyed the tunnel using vast quantities of explosives. The Egyptian officials said the tunnels were discovered when water that had been pumped from the ocean to flood the tunnels on the border, as the Egyptians have been doing in recent weeks, failed to seep into the ground. Security officials realized that something must have been blocking the water from being absorbed, and thus discovered the network of tunnels. Egyptian engineering forces promptly began excavations in the area and discovered an iron tunnel at a depth of 10 meters. A quick examination of the tunnel revealed that its walls were made of 40cm-thick iron. The Egyptian officials said that building such a tunnel would be an extremely expensive endeavor. It was later discovered that the tunnel reached 200 meters into Egyptian territory and was presumably still under construction. The tunnel streched 70 meters into Paleostinian territory as well. According to Egyptian intelligence, the advanced tunnel network includes some 17 iron tunnels from Gazoo, which are meant to service Hamas and other gangs in their fight against the Egyptian flooding operations against the tunnels. Egyptian news portal al-Masrawi reported that Egyptian officials believe Hamas was behind the construction of the tunnels, using considerable funding come from Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... Hamas has previously voiced its disdain for the flooding campaign, saying that the operation further tightens the blockade against the Gazoo Strip, while the Rafah border crossing does not open consistently. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... has previously slammed his bitter rival Egyptian president Fattah Abdel al-Sissi over the anti-tunnels operations. The Egyptian president, for his part, clarified in recent meetings with officials from the Paleostinian Authority that the measures taken by the army are meant to secure the border between Egypt and Gazoo, for the sake of Egyptian national security. According to him, the steps cannot hurt "our Paleostinian brothers in Gazoo." Pictures from the border area posted to social media in recent days already show cracks beginning to form in the ground due to the massive amounts of sea water being pumped into the ground. Dr. Yuval Arbel, a groundwater expert from Friends of the Earth Israel, told Ynet that "It's hard to accurately assess what's going on from the pictures, but it is clear that if they are flooding the tunnels on such a massive scale, it will cause depressions and cracks in the ground, and may even lead to ground collapses and damage resources. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #17 Gee whiz, the stuff one learns a click or two away from this place. I'd seen the odd iron church in the Caribbean and the 'Pines and whatnot, but had no idea of the origins of the genre. "Tin tabernacles," even. Thanks, Burg. |
| Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 2015-11-29 23:22 |
| #16 Even 40mm is a lot of iron. By itself, this is expensive. Forming it and hauling it and fitting it and sealing it.... Somebody sold a lot of oil without anybody else noticing. |
| Posted by: Richard Aubrey 2015-11-29 22:28 |
| #15 These tunnels would make way cool potato guns! |
| Posted by: 3dc 2015-11-29 20:36 |
| #14 Thinking 4 mm Alan |
| Posted by: Shipman 2015-11-29 18:47 |
| #13 Iron Tunnel Network WMAGNFAB |
| Posted by: Shipman 2015-11-29 18:47 |
| #12 Typo? 40mm instead of 40cm? |
| Posted by: AlanC 2015-11-29 18:36 |
| #11 Poor Palestine's penchant for boring Has pierced the Earth's core! Iron is pouring In upwellings vernal From regions infernal, Providing some opportune shoring. |
| Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 2015-11-29 16:57 |
| #10 Maybe steel w beams. Kinda crazy when one can timber between steel bents. Something wrong with the story |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2015-11-29 16:56 |
| #9 The previous comment was me. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2015-11-29 16:19 |
| #8 Meps, meps. Mass quantities. That would be right at 13 inches. Whoo-eee. |
| Posted by: Slutch Ebbens2155 2015-11-29 16:14 |
| #7 the thickness quoted is quite clearly - unbelievable. Handling, moving, etc. are just stupidly difficult |
| Posted by: Frank G 2015-11-29 15:45 |
| #6 Mightn't it be cost effective for the Egyptians to salvage some of that iron before setting off the explosives? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2015-11-29 15:08 |
| #5 "Madman madman madman. Smoke away." |
| Posted by: Herb Trotsky8742 2015-11-29 13:36 |
| #4 Tin foil hat time. |
| Posted by: Betty Hitler2611 2015-11-29 12:52 |
| #3 WTF? Forty centimeters of iron? 400mm? Almost a half meter? How much of the tunnel had that armor? That's twice the thickness of the Panzer VIII Maus's front armor. That's a lot of iron to bury. And if the Paleostain's don't like the condition of the ground, they can stop tunneling through it. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2015-11-29 11:08 |
| #2 Someone needs to put a slapdown on Qatar. |
| Posted by: Ebbart Glererong5900 2015-11-29 09:12 |
| #1 The UN is doing a great job is stopping building material getting into the hands of the tunnel builders. |
| Posted by: BernardZ 2015-11-29 03:31 |