February 17, 2020, 03:42 AM
Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90
Palestinian police officers guard on the border with Egypt, in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, on June 23, 2019.
Construction began in late January
Egypt has started construction of a new border wall along the Gaza Strip, according to a report by Al Monitor.
Construction began in late January as Egypt took on a series of new projects to strengthen security at the Gaza border and prevent the infiltration of terrorist and extremist threats from Gaza.
Once completed, the new wall will extend from the Kerem Shalom crossing to the Rafah crossing, over a distance of about two kilometers. It will measure six meters high and extend five meters underground.
The Egyptian government believes that the wall will prevent the infiltration of armed men and the construction of new cross-border tunnels in Egypt.
The announcement of the wall comes after Egyptian military revealed earlier this month “to have found a nearly three kilometer [underground] tunnel from the Gaza Strip into the heart of Rafah.”
There were no demonstrations reported within Gaza in response to the wall announcement.
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