Our correspondent in Gaza visited the tunnels on Thursday to make a report about economic activities of Palestinians under the ground. 

“After imposing the Israeli blockade on Gaza, digging such tunnels was necessary for meeting the basic needs of people.  Because the tunnels were the only ways for importing essential goods to Gaza during the past seven years,” a Palestinian activist told al-Alam.  

Another activist said that several people have died or sustained injures for creating the tunnels.

Gaza has been blockaded since 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.

The apartheid regime of Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator James W. Rawley said in April that a new round of Israeli restrictions on the Gaza Strip was impacting food supplies and would have “serious” effects if continued.

On Thursday European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton called on Israel to ease the blockade on the Gaza Strip, ruled by the Hamas resistance movement.