Rafah tunnel owners and workers on strike against government taxes Gaza – Mohammad Habib Owners of tunnels linking the Palestinian and Egyptian borders at Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, and hundreds of laborers suspended work for the third day in a row, in protest to the increase of taxes imposed by the outgoing Gaza government, run by Hamas, in addition to the tight security measures also imposed. The taxes and security measures are meant to “maintain security and prevent smuggling of contraband.”
Tunnel owners and workers stated that a large number of tunnels have stopped working since Tuesday morning, where their owners refrained from receiving commodities from the Egyptian side, in an attempt to dissuade the Hamas government from increasing the taxes.
The owners complain of the amount of taxes imposed by the Authority of Borders and Crossings on the goods and material supplied to the Strip from Egypt through the tunnels, saying they greatly affect their revenue, which has sharply declined in the past two years.
They explained that the borders authority requires high taxes on construction material, which is currently considered the main source of their work, in addition to the ban of other items of high demand in the besieged Gaza strip, particularly spare parts of cars and motorbikes.
The borders authority sets 10 shekels (1 USD = 3.81 NIS) per ton of gravel, 20 shekels per ton of cement, and 50 shekels per ton of iron.
The tunnel owners and workers expect that the strike would include all tunnels in the next couple of days, if the Hamas government insists on imposing these taxes, stressing that they are not against paying taxes to the government on principle, as long as these taxes are reasonable and do not negatively affect their interests.
Work sharply declined in the “smuggling” tunnels in the past two years, following the facilities allowed by Israel on the commercial crossings in response to international pressures after the Freedom Flotilla massacre in 2010. Israel had previously prevented the transfer of most needed material and commodities, following Hamas’s victory in the legislative elections in 2006. Now however, the tunnels which Gaza residents used to depend on for the supply of goods and materials since 2006, are mostly reliant now on transferring construction material, cars, and fuel.
Observers note that Hamas’s government deals with the smuggling tunnels are official commercial crossings, whether by appointing an authority to supervise the work of these tunnels and their workers, or by imposing taxes on the goods supplied through them. In addition,  individuals who are mostly banned from travelling through the official Rafah crossing, must register their names one day in advance if they plan to pass through the tunnels, and is to pay 50 dollars to the tunnel owner for one trip across the tunnel, either from Gaza to Egypt on the other way.
Gaza residents also complain of high taxes imposed by the government on smuggled cars and fuel, as they reportedly raised the taxes on Egyptian fuel several times in the past two years, whereas the government collects high custom duties on smuggled cars. Car dealers and tunnel owners have previously stated that the borders authority charges 1000 USD for every car passing through the tunnels.
Residents in Gaza hold the Hamas government accountable for the continuous raise in car prices, dude to high taxes imposed on smuggled cars following the government’s decision to impose a 25% tax charge on cars imported through Israeli crossings.
The government took extra security measures a few months ago, setting main gates leading to the tunnels area, in order to ensure the monitoring of the tunnels.
A Gaza government source commented on these measures, noting that the main objective is to prevent the trafficking of contraband, including stolen cars, and to ensure security on both sides of the tunnel, whether in Gaza or in Egypt. He stressed that the government did not impose new taxes on working in the tunnels; however, they try to regulate this extraordinary phenomenon which the siege forced on the Strip.