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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101018/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflictgazaeconomytunnels
Gaza Tunnels Become Export Channel
(AFP) Mai Yaghi - With the lifting of restrictions on consumer goods entering Gaza through Israeli crossings, food, beauty products and second-hand clothes now flow the other way through the tunnels beneath the border. Palestinians even herd cows through the tunnels, leading them out of Gaza and into Egypt. "The Egyptian traders demand Israeli livestock to breed with their own to improve its quality," one smuggler said. The Egyptians also order Israeli coffee, blue jeans, mobile phones, and scrap copper, aluminum and used car batteries that can be recycled in Egypt. Another tunnel operator exports Israeli-made soap and hair gel, chickens, pigeons, and fresh fruit. A clothing store owner in Gaza City says he exports bed sheets and clothes made in Turkey and brought in through Israel. He sells his products in Egypt for twice what he pays for them because Egypt imposes high customs duties on imported goods in order to promote its own local industries.