Hamas on Wednesday ordered Gaza residents to shut smuggling tunnels along the border with Egypt indefinitely, residents and tunnel operators said Wednesday. 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 terror 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.
The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, normally open on Wednesdays and Thursdays to Gazans traveling abroad for medical treatment, was also closed.
Israel on Tuesday issued a warning to all citizens in Sinai to leave immediately, citing concrete evidence that militants were trying to kidnap Israelis. By midday Wednesday, most of the estimated 650 Israelis in Sinai had returned home.
Forces of the Islamic militant Hamas moved into the border area late Tuesday and ordered tunnel operators to cease operations until further notice. The operators were allowed to retrieve food and other perishable goods, but otherwise barred from the area on Wednesday.
"This is the first time this has happened," said Jasser Younes, a 25-year-old tunnel worker who helps smuggle cement into Gaza. Two other tunnel operators said Hamas security forces warned people they would be punished if they defied the order. They declined to be identified for fear of punishment.
Wednesday's crackdown comes at a difficult time for the tunnel industry. Rafah officials say that Egypt has stepped up a crackdown on smuggling in recent months, setting up checkpoints in the border area and confiscating contraband.
Egypt is also building an underground steel wall to block the tunnels. Rafah officials say about six kilometers of the wall - 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.