Wednesday 9 December 2009

Egypt's iron wall to block Gaza tunnels


Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:54:32 GMT


Egypt is building a massive iron wall along its border with the Gaza Strip to disrupt the tunnels Palestinians use to transfer food and other basic needs into the blockaded territory.

The wall which will be 9 to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) long, and will go as deep as 20 to 30 meters into the ground, Haaretz reported.

The structure is made of huge slates of steel, and will be impossible to cut or melt, the daily quoted Egyptian sources as saying.

The barrier wall is the latest move by the Cairo government in assisting Israel with its crippling siege on the Hamas-run coastal enclave since the closure started in June 2007.

The Egyptian forces demolish tunnels or fill them with gas almost every week, often with people still inside them, resulting in Palestinian casualties in the tunnels which are also regularly pounded by Israeli planes.

Joint American-Egyptian patrols have been seen in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah as they try to detect tunnels using underground sensors.

Palestinians say the tunnels are the only resort to provide food and other basic needs for the starving population in the impoverished territory.

MRS/AKM

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