Israel Targets 'Terror Tunnels' (and Viagra Highway)

One of the major objectives of the Israeli bombing raids in Gaza, it appears, was to destroy the network of tunnels on the Egyptian border used by Hamas to smuggle weapons and materiel. Israel News says fighter jets targeted as many as 40 tunnels in a carefully choreographed strike:

*Destroying the tunnels was one of **Operation Cast Lead's **objectives. The tunnels, used to smuggle weapons and ammunition into Gaza escaped any major strike for the entirety of the **ceasefire **between **Israel *and the militant groups in Gaza, as well as for several months prior to it.

The tunnels, as it happens, were not just a conduit for smuggling weapons. According to a story by Bloomberg's Jonathan Ferziger, the tunnels had become an economic lifeline for Gaza, which has been under Israeli blockade. Residents of Gaza depended on the tunnels for everything from livestock and construction materials to stocks of the erectile-dysfunction drug Viagra and smuggled iPods.

Ferziger presciently adds: "It may also turn into a bombing target for the Israeli air force following the expiration of a six-month cease- fire with the Hamas leaders who rule Gaza, Israeli strategists say."

[PHOTO: AP via daylife.com]

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