Six Palestinians were trapped and another was missing Thursday after a Gaza trade tunnel collapsed.

Six Palestinians were trapped and another was missing Thursday after a Gaza trade tunnel collapsed, a local civil defense official said.

The cave-in in the underground passage from the southern Gaza town of Rafah into neighboring Egypt was caused by Egyptian flooding of the border zone in its campaign to stop smuggling, the official told AFP.

Authorities have spoken to one of the trapped men by mobile telephone and rescue efforts are under way, he added.

Since January 26, 12 Gazans have been killed in five separate tunnel collapses with both Zionist entity and Egypt operating against the diggers.

A Zionist blockade severely restricts the movement of people and goods into and out of the territory, and Egypt's sole border with Gaza has also remained largely closed since 2013.

The passages to Egypt are used for transit of commercial goods, cash, people and, allegedly, weapons.

In late 2014, Egypt began setting up a buffer zone on its border with Gaza and destroyed hundreds of tunnels.