STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
Israel wants these tunnels stopped. Egypt claims it needs better technology to detect them. But Egyptians who live along the border say as long as Israel's blockade of Gaza continues, so will the smuggling. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from Rafah on the Egyptian side of the border.
PETER KENYON: Rafah has spent the last three decades as a divided city, with some families having members both in Egypt and in the Palestinian Gaza Strip. As with many border towns, Rafah has its share of people who don't see why they should be constrained by political boundaries, especially if there's money to be made.
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KENYON: The Morning Light Cafe in Rafah was a lively place on a recent afternoon. A local resident introduced the crowd to a visiting reporter, adding in a low tone of voice that everyone in the room worked in the tunnel business one way or another, but none of them would admit it. As predicted, the young men first denied there were any tunnels, and then insisted they only shipped food, fuel, and other essential goods through them.
U: (Through translator) The tunnels are the only life support for Palestine. They've been blockaded from every point with all crossings closed. How are they supposed to eat?
KENYON: For these young men who only laugh when asked their names, it's not hard to justify smuggling goods into people who are under siege by the powerful Israeli military with the backing the world's only superpower.
U: (Through translator) Israel will not leave until it collapses all the tunnels. But it's not about the tunnels. It's about crushing the Palestinians. The Palestinians will die locked inside Gaza if the tunnels collapse and the borders aren't opened. Look, it's simple. If the borders are open, there will be no tunnels. If the borders stay closed, the tunnels will operate.
KENYON: Another man chimes in to voice a common belief both here and in Israel, that no matter what Egyptian leaders may say in public, they're allowing the smuggling to continue.
U: (Through translator) We are Muslims, and what Hosni Mubarak is doing with the tunnels is a mercy for the people living there. Any Arab country would do the same for the Palestinian people.
KENYON: At one squat, stone farmhouse, the family isn't fazed by unexpected visitors, spreading a blanket on the sand and offering sweet tea. After loudly condemning the Israeli attacks on Gaza, a man who gives his name as Abu Hian(ph) says frankly, love for their Palestinian brothers has nothing to do with the smuggling.
M: (Through translator) Let's be honest. It's all about business. Let's not lie to each other and say that we're doing this for the Palestinian cause.
KENYON: In the past, Israel has considered several options for blocking the tunnels, an international force, underground barriers, even a flooded trench along the border area. But officials on both sides of the border say without an agreement that guarantees a basic standard of living for the people of Gaza, the smugglers will find a way to keep the goods and the money flowing. Peter Kenyon, NPR News in Rafah, Egypt.
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INSKEEP: Those tunnels have come up as people continue discussing the fighting in Gaza. In Cairo, Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, says elements are in place for a possible ceasefire. He said one of the key elements of the plan was to end the smuggling from Egypt.