Egypt starts building steel wall on Gaza Strip border

[Cheetah786]

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

Wow i guess to stay in powers some people will sell their soul Eh batmen oh wait its the story all over Midleeast isnt it.but these are the same people that claim to be fighting for Muslims

 

[TruthSeeker]

Gaza border: Why Egypt is building a steel underground wall


By Sarah A. Topol Contributor / December 14, 2009
Cairo

Reports from the Gaza border say that Egypt is building an underground wall as deep as 100 feet to stem smuggling in Hamas-controlled tunnels. But there are broader goals, too.

Heavy machinery operates on the Egyptian side of the border between the southern Gaza Strip, right, and Egypt, left, as seen from Rafah, Thursday. Egypt has been digging trenches and installing metal sheets underground along its border with Gaza in an apparent attempt to curb smuggling into the Palestinian territory through tunnels, Gaza border guards and area residents said Thursday.

Reports that Egypt is building a steel underground wall along its border with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip have fueled speculation about what exactly Cairo intends to accomplish with the project, which British newspapers claim is being carried out with the help of the US Army Corps of Engineers.

The immediate objective is obvious: to severely disrupt the flourishing smuggling trade carried out in an extensive subterranean network of tunnels under the border. The smugglers provide everything from food to weapons for Gazans, who are largely cut off from the outside world due to an Israeli blockade.

Analysts disagree, however, about Egypt’s broader goals, which appear contradictory and are obscured by the fact that Cairo has yet to acknowledge the existence of the project. But it appears that Egypt is trying to strike a balance between remaining a key ally of the US while at the same time shoring up its position as an influential player in a neighborhood that often views Washington unfavorably.

“Egypt is walking a tightrope between its commitments to Arabs and directly to the Palestinian cause and at the same time its commitment to enhancing international security,” says Gamal Soltan, political analyst at the Al-Ahram Center in Cairo, a government-funded think tank.

But constructing a wall is a significant departure from the mere rhetoric Egypt has used to exert pressure in the past. This time, Egypt’s balancing act might backfire, especially given that fact that the Arab world was highly critical of Egypt for closing the Rafah border during the Israeli incursion on Gaza last year and cooperating with Israel on the economic blockade.

“You have operation Cast Lead basically flattening Gaza and Operation ‘Metal Wall’ on the Egyptian side strangling the Gazan population even further. These are impressions and perceptions that the Egyptian government does not need,” says Adel Iskandar, professor of media and communications at Georgetown University in Washington.

A response to US pressure?

Residents on both sides of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza have reported seeing giant drills and construction crews along the Egyptian side of the boundary, spurring a flurry of reports last week. On Dec 9. the BBC published a map of the project and reported that the completed wall would be six to seven miles long and plunge 60 feet below the ground, while others said it could go as deep as 100 feet. The wall is reportedly impenetrable, composed of bombproof steel that will be impossible to sever or burn. Though it would not completely destroy the tunneling networks, it is believed that it would stem the majority of smuggling, which has become a key source of revenue for Hamas.

Some analysts see the wall as a response to pressure from the US and Israel, which consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization, to stem smuggling along the border.

The US has in the past threatened to withhold $200 million in military aid to Egypt over concern about arms smuggling in the tunnels, angering Cairo. A compromise was reached in early 2008 under which Congress allocated $23 million of that aid toward stemming smuggling, the US Army Corps of Engineers have been involved in training Egyptian troops on advanced technology that can detect and destroy the tunnels.

Catering to American interests renders Egypt a continued player in peace negotiations and an essential ally in negotiations. Egypt, once the region’s powerbroker, also stands to show its neighbors it will not be subservient to the whims of Hamas, a small militant group and an offshoot of Egypt’s banned political opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood.

“It could be a political ploy with the desire of maintaining or reasserting Egypt’s legitimacy in the region at a time when perhaps the Americans are starting to assume that Egypt has a declining role,” says Prof. Iskandar.

Message to Hamas: Consequences for not cooperating
Others see the wall as primarily directed at Hamas after months of Egyptian-mediated reconciliation talks with the rival Palestinian faction Fatah have failed to produce a solution.

“It’s quite a drastic measure,” says Nadim Shehadi, associate fellow for the Middle East and North Africa Program at the London-based Chatham House. He sees it as a pessimistic sign that Egypt is giving up on the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation talks that have failed to produce a deal under Egypt’s mediation efforts.
“It’s an indication that there’s no outlook for a resolution that would allow free passage soon,” says Mr. Shehadi.

But some say it’s not a final move, but rather a political maneuver to strengthen Egypt’s position as a mediator between the estranged Palestinian factions – a maneuver that may prove crucial to restarting negotiations.

“It’s a way ... to send a message to Hamas that they cannot enjoy the same kind of lenient Egyptian policy while at the same time refusing to cooperate with Egypt towards Palestinian reconciliation,” says Gamal Soltan, political analyst at Egypt’s government-funded Al-Ahram Center. “Egypt wants to show Hamas there are consequences for not cooperating.”

Gaza border: Why Egypt is building a steel underground wall / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

 

[mr42O]

Those bastards!!!! why not usa want election in Egypt is it becuase king is in there pocket ?

 

[TruthSeeker]

It appears that all Muslim nations are not on the Palestinian team. Oh wait! Maybe none of the Muslim nations actually help the Palestinians except the Persian Shiites ......Let's see, 1,000,000,000 Muslims versus 12,000,000 Jews (counting the ones in the USA). Hmmmmmm.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Egypt's Gaza smugglers shrug off reports of border barrier

By Samer al-Atrush, in Cairo for AFP
Published: 1:27PM GMT 15 Dec 2009

"That one has concrete," said Abu Khaled, as he parked his mud-camouflaged pick-up by the side of the road. The gaunt, bearded Bedouin operates a tunnel himself, and specialises in supplying the Palestinian enclave with concrete.

For a man wanted by the police for smuggling, Abu Khaled is remarkably upbeat about his prospects. He shrugged off reports that the authorities were constructing an underground barrier to sever the tunnels into Gaza.

"It shouldn't pose a problem," he said.

The smugglers have long been accustomed to outwitting frontier guards. They react to the sight of heavy machinery digging along the border and inserting pipes and metal sheets into the ground with a mixture of amusement and scorn.

The barrier will reportedly reach a depth of between 18 and 30 metres (60 to 100 feet), but the smugglers say they can easily burrow beneath it.

"They're taking American money and dumping it into the ground," said one smuggler in the border town of Rafah, giving his name as Mohammed.

No one along the border believes that Egypt will ever be able - or willing - to end the smuggling that provides the people of Gaza with food, fuel and weapons.

Israel enforced a semi-blockade of the territory after the Islamist movement Hamas seized it in 2007.

"There's a whole cocktail of reasons why it won't work," said Abu Ahmed, a Bedouin arms trader.

The police are corrupt, he says, the Bedouin and other smugglers are resourceful, and if Egypt cuts the underground lifeline to Gaza people there may inundate Sinai, as they did briefly in 2008 after Hamas blasted the border wall.

"They used to want weapons. Now they have all the light arms they need, although Hamas is interested if you have something bigger. What they want is food and fuel," Abu Ahmed said.

"If the tunnels end, do you think 1.5 million people are just going to sit there and starve?"

Police regularly destroy tunnels, and are getting better at finding them. A senior security official recalled discovering one tunnel entrance in a bedroom cupboard - and another under a toilet.

The anti-tunnel campaign, which Egypt has been under pressure to step up, has made life harder for the smugglers.

Both Abu Khaled and Abu Ahmed are wanted for smuggling and live as fugitives, always armed. They also say there are hundreds more like them.

But they do concede that a metal barrier, if fully constructed, might reduce the number of tunnels, estimated to be in the hundreds.

Some smugglers might even welcome a reduction in the competition, which has raised prices of goods in Rafah and neighbouring border towns while pushing down prices in Gaza, they say.

But an end to the smuggling will only come with an agreement between Egypt and Hamas, Abu Ahmed said, and this was unlikely for as long as Israel restricts all but very basic goods from entering the impoverished enclave.

And while the Bedouin remain marginalised in the underdeveloped region they will resort to smuggling to make ends meet, added Abu Ahmed, who was a kindergarten teacher before turning to the gun-running trade.

The senior security official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said that Egypt finds itself caught between its obligations towards Israel, with which it signed a peace treaty in 1979, and its concern for Gaza's population.

"You know we have an agreement with the Jews, not to support any elements that are hostile to Israel. On the other hand, the Gazans are Arabs and Muslims - we do not want to starve them," he said.

"There is confusion on the ground. We are walking on broken glass."

He denied that Egypt was building a barrier, saying the metal sheets being placed in the ground were supports for a planned patrol road. However, another official stationed in the area said reports of a wall were "mainly true".

Egypt has yet to officially explain the purpose of the work being carried out along the border.

Israel has long complained that Cairo is not doing enough to stop the smuggling into Gaza, and the United States has provided tunnel detection equipment to help end the trade.

"If you want to write that we are building an underground barrier, I won't stop you. It looks good for us," the security official said. "It looks like we're doing something."

Egypt's Gaza smugglers shrug off reports of border barrier - Telegraph

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

i see some major changes coming up in Egypt's Government.

 

[pak-marine]

why dont the Egyptians simply join in forces with Israelites ...! what hipocrats they are !?

 

[Thomas]

actually if they want to see action on the part of the border guards just put a cash reward for every tunnel they discover. I am for allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza. I am against the smuggling of weapons though through the tunnels.

 

[Hussein]

actually if they want to see action on the part of the border guards just put a cash reward for every tunnel they discover. I am for allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza. I am against the smuggling of weapons though through the tunnels.

and what about Palestinian state?
what about the israelians who illegaly occupy some palestinian lands? the ones who steal their ressources?

ah sorry there is only the problem of weapons in tunnels. as you say.

 

[Thomas]

and what about Palestinian state?
what about the israelians who illegaly occupy some palestinian lands? the ones who steal their ressources?

ah sorry there is only the problem of weapons in tunnels. as you say.

No I actually think the U.S. should put pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid in. also there is no Palestinian state and never will be if they don't negotiate one.

 

[Evil Flare]

No I actually think the U.S. should put pressure on Israel to allow more humanitarian aid in. also there is no Palestinian state and never will be if they don't negotiate one.

Really ???


Time will tell Brother ..



That Egyptian President Bastard ..

To stay in Power , this guy will even sell his mother , sisters & daughters ..



Why dont USA cry abt Democracy in Egypt .. ??

Hypocrisy at its BEST

 

[TruthSeeker]

Egypt's wall in final stages

2010-02-02 14:39, Cairo - Egypt has almost finished building an underground steel wall along its border with the Gaza Strip to curtail smuggling through tunnels, a leading Egyptian newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The barrier is "near completion" and is "in its final stages of construction," eyewitnesses told Cairo's al-Masry al-Youm daily.

They said there had been heightened construction activity in recent weeks, with as many as 45 shipments of steel arriving in the past two days alone.

Egypt has never explicitly confirmed it is building such a barrier, but President Hosny Mubarak last week defended "increased fortifications" along the border as a matter of "national sovereignty" that were "not up for debate".

His remarks were a response to rising domestic and regional criticism of Egypt and Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip since Hamas took control of the territory's security forces in 2007.

Smugglers have used cross-border tunnels to bring basic commodities, drugs and weapons into the Gaza Strip since the imposition of the blockade.

Egyptian security forces on Monday said they had discovered five tunnels which had been used to smuggle car and motorcycle parts, as well as paint, into the Gaza Strip.

Smugglers have dismissed the reported barrier as ineffective, saying they will simply tunnel deeper, and that many of the tunnels are, in any case, already deeper than the new wall's reported depth of 20 metres.

Egypt's wall in final stages: News24: Africa: News

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

Provided , Palestinians are granted their own country and open airport and port they don't need to smuggle they can use their own ships and airplanes

 

[Tiger Awan]

What do you think will happen when you will Crush Muslims so much that they will be seeing their death in front of them??????

They will simply say OK

Why a simple death? Why not death with a pride. Pride of defending the nation. Pride of serving UMAH!!!!!


israel can not win this war. Ultimate win is ours!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kansu]

Egypt build sheet piles...
And according to the news, they get help from usa for the construction and the design of the piles. To be honest there are mid-sized companies in Turkey which can do such a work perfectly... but the matter is we dont do such a thing, so the egyptians dont want us too. That egpytian so called leader does anything in order to keep his throne. All the arabic states know it very well that the biggest threat against them is democracy, not israel. So they are against the only democratic regime of the entire arabic world. they simply want to finish Hamas.

And honestly, everything can be penetrated. i say this as a geotechnical engineer. they can penetrate it but the key point is to be able to conceal the tunnel after opening it. so much noise, so much trouble... IAF will bomb the tunnels even if they can open it