Egypt starts building steel wall on Gaza Strip border

[Jana]

Egypt starts building steel wall on Gaza Strip border
By Christian Fraser
BBC News, Cairo


Egypt has begun constructing a huge metal wall along its border with the Gaza Strip as it attempts to cut smuggling tunnels, the BBC has learned.

When it is finished the wall will be 10-11km (6-7 miles) long and will extend 18 metres below the surface.

The Egyptians are being helped by American army engineers, who the BBC understands have designed the wall.

The plan has been shrouded in secrecy, with no comment or confirmation from the Egyptian government.

The wall will take 18 months to complete.

For weeks local farmers have noticed more activity at the border where trees were being cut down, but very few of them were aware that a barrier was being built.

'Impenetrable'

That is because the barrier, made of super-strength steel, has been hidden deep underground.

The BBC has been told that it was manufactured in the US, that it fits together in similar fashion to a jigsaw, and that it has been tested to ensure it is bomb proof.

It cannot be cut or melted - in short it is impenetrable.

Intelligence sources in Egypt say the barrier is being sunk close to the perimeter wall that already exists.

They claim 4km of the wall has already been completed north of the Rafah crossing, with work now beginning to the south.

The land beneath Egypt and Gaza resembles a Swiss cheese, full of holes and tunnels through which the Palestinians smuggle the everyday items they are denied by the blockade.

But the Israelis say the tunnels are also used to smuggle people, weapons, and the components of the rockets that are fired at southern Israeli towns.

The wall is not expected to stop all the smuggling, but it will force the Palestinians to go deeper and it will likely cut the hundreds of superficial tunnels closer to the surface that are used to move the bulk of the goods.

BBC News - Egypt starts building steel wall on Gaza Strip border

[Al-Zakir]

Hezbollah got more balls than stooge nations like egypt and jordan combine. It's a shame these low life naitons has diplomatic tie with killer.

[A1Kaid]

Egypt has one of the most despicable, disgraceful, shameful, puppet Government's in the entire Arab world.


Why do you fight in the early Arab wars against Israel in the past decades? To now set up steel walls on the Egyptian-Gaza border, the only outside hospitable lifeline for food, clothes, water, and other essential things in life they had.

This "smuggling" is the byproduct of Israeli occupation, blockades, threats, and state policy of collective punishment against Palestinians. This smuggling is not of any harmful or evil nature it is of a humanitarian nature.


Shame on Egypt, despicable Egypt and the other despicable Arab leaders and governments.

[jeypore]

Egypt has begun constructing a huge metal wall along its border with the Gaza Strip as it attempts to cut smuggling tunnels, the BBC has learned.

It is more of Smuggling Palestinens to Egypt!!!!

Here we have tones of people that nobody wants, but love to talk about for political reason, Muslims politicians have done a great job on this absolutely....

[Solid Beast]

So far not a single Islamic government has taken up this issue with the egyptians. The motives of the world are clear...barricade, isolate, demoralize and destroy the Palestinian people. I'm sure the steel walls came on soft loans from the U.S.