A Palestinian worker died Sunday as he fell down into a deep smuggling tunnel on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, medical sources said.

Hospital sources in Rafah City said the 20-year-old worker died instantly after he fell down in a 30-meter deep tunnel hole.

Human rights groups in Gaza said more than 230 workers had died in the tunnels that were dug to defy the Israeli economic blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007.

Smuggling through tunnels between Gaza and Egypt has dramatically declined after an Egyptian army crackdown following the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi last July.

Egypt's military said the tunnels are being used by Hamas to aid Islamist militants in Sinai.

Hamas government in Gaza said the losses from tunnel closures have reached around 500 million U.S dollars since last July. Endi

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