RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — As top diplomats pledged billions of dollars for war-ravaged Gaza on Monday, ordinary people here — from merchants to housewives — said they’d rather have open borders than handouts. Even some tunnel smugglers who profit from Gaza’s blockaded borders say they’d rather import legally through open crossings than risk Israeli bombing raids and shaft collapses. “I want a cease-fire and open borders. Crossings are better than tunnels,” said 22-year-old smuggler Abu Mahmoud, leaning over a shaft as workers tried to clear a 300-foot stretch of tunnel that had collapsed under an Israeli airstrike.——Contact the Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]
Gaza wants open borders, not handouts
By The Associated Press
March 2, 2009