GAZA CITY: Three Palestinians died when a smuggling tunnel beneath the Gaza Strip s border with Egypt collapsed, medics said Tuesday.

Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services, said the tunnel in the border town of Rafah caved in on Monday night.

The impoverished territory of 1.5 million people has largely relied on a vast network of smuggling tunnels from Egypt since Israel sealed Gaza off from all but vital aid after the Islamist Hamas movement seized power in June 2007.

More than 120 Palestinians have died in cave-ins or been killed by Israeli operations targeting the tunnels since the Hamas takeover, medics say. -AFP