audio, stills, text and or video: Go to http://www.zReportage.com to see more - MOHAMED ALHWANI is a 12-year-old Palestinian refugee who lives in Rafah near the Egyptian border in the southern Gaza Strip. Mohamed is a smuggler and spends 6 hours a day at 'work' inside the tunnels bringing goods from Egypt. He lives a double life and after long dangerous hours underground - fatalities are common - he returns home late at night to sleep before heading off to school in the morning. The network of tunnels is a vital lifeline for Gaza, bringing in an estimated 30 percent of all goods that reach the enclave and circumventing the blockade imposed by Israel. Dozens of children make this deadly crossing daily. Its estimated 2,500-3,000 tunnels made their way under the desert but that number has fallen since 2010, when Israel eased some of the limits they imposed on imports. Six Palestinians died in January in tunnel implosions, raising the death toll amongst workers to 233 since 2007, according to Gazan human rights groups. Israel imposed its blockade for what it called security reasons in 2007. The United Nations has appealed for it to be lifted.
© Ahmed Deeb/NurPhoto/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
April 4, 2013 - Gaza City, Gaza Strip - MOHAMED ALHWANI is a 12-year-old, Palestinian refugee who lives in Rafah near the Egyptian border in the southern Gaza Strip. Alhwani is a smuggler and spends 6 hours a day at work inside the tunnels bringing goods from Egypt.
© Ahmed Deeb/NurPhoto/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
April 4, 2013 - Gaza City, Gaza Strip - MOHAMED ALHWANI helps work on the tunnels from Gaza to Egypt. After long dangerous hours underground - fatalities are common - he returns home late at night and in the morning he goes to school.
© Ahmed Deeb/NurPhoto/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
April 4, 2013 - Gaza City, Gaza Strip - A tunnel entrance near the Egyptian border. Palestinians have dug hundreds of tunnels that emerge in Egypt, and from these holes in the ground passes the underground economy of Gaza.
© Ahmed Deeb/NurPhoto/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
April 4, 2013 - Gaza City, Gaza Strip - MOHAMED ALHWANI is a 12-year-old, Palestinian refugee who lives in Rafah near the Egyptian border in the southern Gaza Strip.
© Ahmed Deeb/NurPhoto/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
April 4, 2013 - Gaza City, Gaza Strip - MOHAMED ALHWANI pauses under a tent at the entrance a tunnel from Gaza to Egypt.
© Ahmed Deeb/NurPhoto/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
April 4, 2013 - Gaza City, Gaza Strip - MOHAMED ALHWANI works deep underground under dangerous conditions in the tunnels.
© Ahmed Deeb/NurPhoto/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
April 4, 2013 - Gaza City, Gaza Strip - MOHAMED ALHWANI takes a break from working in the tunnels.
© Ahmed Deeb/NurPhoto/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
April 4, 2013 - Gaza City, Gaza Strip - MOHAMED ALHWANI works in the tunnels.
© Ahmed Deeb/NurPhoto/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
April 4, 2013 - Gaza City, Gaza Strip - MOHAMED ALHWANI goes to school in the morning.
© Ahmed Deeb/NurPhoto/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press