On 1 November 2009, two Palestinians died in tunnel collapses, raising the tunnels’ death toll to 120, including four children.
This figure excludes deaths caused by Israeli military actions.
Of the 120, 110 people were killed in 2008 and 2009 alone, 59 of whom were killed in the first ten months of 2009.
A further 250 people have been injured in tunnel incidents during last few years.
In addition, seven Palestinians have been killed inside tunnels as a result of Israeli aerial attacks, raising the total tunnel death toll to 127.
  According to field investigations conducted by Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, at approximately 3pm on Sunday 1 November 2009, Mohammed Baraka, 23, from Khan Younis died due to an electric shock when he was inside a tunnel on the border line between Rafah and Egypt.
According to medical sources at Abu Yousif An-Najar Hospital, Baraka was admitted to the hospital as a dead body.
  At approximately 1:20pm on Sunday 1 November 2009, medical sources at Abu Yousif An-Najar Hospital announced that the hospital had admitted the dead body of Ahmed Salah Abdeen, 35, from Khan Younis town.
The medical sources said he died from suffocation after a tunnel collapsed under the As-Salam neighborhood in southern Rafah town.
  According to medical sources, on the same day, another person sustained serious injuries.
  According to medical sources at Abu Yousif An-Najar Hospital, at approximately 12:45pm on the same day, two other persons sustained moderate injuries as a chemical material (paint thinner) leaked inside another tunnel.
They left the hospital after receiving medical treatment.
  Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights expresses its deep regret for the high number of victims in these incidents.
Most of the people who work in tunnels are from very poor backgrounds and have been forced to undertake this kind of work to provide for their families under the difficult socio-economic conditions caused by the Israeli siege on Gaza.
Nevertheless, Al Mezan re-asserts that the smuggling tunnels remain illegal.
  It should be noted that the tight siege imposed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on the Gaza Strip, which prevents the free movement of commodities and humanitarian supplies, has driven the tunnel industry in Gaza, which has prospered in response to the sharp lack of essential goods in Gaza.
The siege represents a form of unlawful collective punishment of the entire population of Gaza and has seriously harmed their human rights while the international community has remained silent.
    As tunnels represent an inevitable alternative for society to attempt to deal with the impact of the Israeli siege, Al Mezan expects the Government in Gaza to monitor and regulate this industry, including by taking measures to protect the life, safety and wellbeing of those who work in it.
Until this industry is abolished, the Government must ensure that all the necessary safety measures and equipment needed for quick rescue operations are in place.
The Government is also responsible for monitoring the quality and prices of the goods that enter the Gaza Strip.
Al Mezan finds it incomprehensible that the authorities have not made any significant efforts to regulate this industry despite the very high death rates it causes and the very high prices of the goods that enter Gaza even when goods are available in the market.
The authorities in Gaza are also responsible for monitoring and preventing the widespread cases of fraud in this industry   Therefore, Al Mezan Centre calls on the Gaza Government to take immediate steps to act upon the obligations it owes to Palestinian citizens in Gaza.
The tunnels’ catastrophe must end.
If shutting it off entirely does not seem objectively attainable now, the authorities, at minimum, are responsible for taking all the necessary measures to protect its workers and the entire population from the consequences of the lack of its regulation.
  Ends