GAZA CITY  - The bodies of three Palestinians have been recovered from a smuggling tunnel between Egypt and the Gaza Strip which collapsed at the weekend, while six people are missing, medics said Monday. The tunnel near the Rafah border crossing caved in on Saturday, burying the nine Palestinians, the medics said. Several Palestinians have died in recent months in the tunnels, which are used to smuggle arms, fuel, and other supplies into the Gaza Strip, which has been under a crippling Israeli blockade for nearly a year. Israel, which sealed Gaza off from all but vital humanitarian aid after the Islamist Hamas movement seized power in June 2007, has accused Egypt of not doing enough to shut down the extensive tunnel network, charges Cairo denies. Egyptian security forces last week began destroying or blocking 20 tunnels where they seized large amounts of fuel, food and cigarettes, an Egyptian security official said Thursday. The Hamas-run interior ministry in Gaza accused Egypt of stepping up its efforts to destroy the tunnels, saying it endangered Palestinians who depend on them for basic goods. "Egypt is attacking the tunnels on its border with the Gaza Strip because of the great American and Israeli pressure it faces," spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein said Monday, adding that American experts were advising the Egyptians. Ghussein accused Egypt of using "dangerous methods" to destroy the tunnels, including gas and water, in addition to destroying them while people are inside, leading to an increase in the death toll. Israel entered into an Egyptian-mediated truce with Palestinian militant groups on June 19 that was conditional on Egypt doing more to end weapons smuggling into the besieged territory.