Stéphane Marchetti

Abu Jamil Street

Beneath deafening bombs and in tunnels on the brink of collapse, we follow four Palestinian tunnel workers burrowing under the Gaza strip. Six feet under the street where Egypt meets the Gaza strip, they laugh while comparing the conflict to a cartoon: "it's always Jerry who wins"! But this laughter stops when Israel's bombs shake the earth. It's December 2008, and Israel's deadly air strikes, which will destroy almost all of the tunnels transporting supplies from Egypt to Palestine, have begun. When the worst of the bombing stops, the men emerge from the shells of their former homes with new drive: "they destroy one, and another one appears". Because as long as Israel's embargo stands, stopping even foreign aid from coming into Palestine, the tunnels remain an important symbol of resistance and a matter of pride. "Some tunnels transport weapons," acknowledges Abu Sleeman, but for him, it's just about "bringing back food, so people can survive".