AL-ARISH: Egyptian security forces have discovered five tunnels used to smuggle petrol and goods into the Gaza Strip, a security official said on Tuesday.

Two of the tunnels contained plastic tubes 850 m long that were used to pump black market petrol into the isolated territory, the official said.

No one was arrested when the tunnels were discovered north of the Rafah border crossing on Monday evening.

Israel has repeatedly accused Egypt of doing too little to counter alleged arms smuggling through tunnels dug from Gaza into Egypt. The accusations have been vehemently denied by Cairo.

Palestinian groups are meeting in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss an Egyptian-mediated truce with Israel aimed at ending the Jewish state s punishing blockade of Gaza since the Islamist Hamas took over there in June.-AFP