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Israel begins construction of new Gaza border barrier
JERUSALEM, Feb 3, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Israel said Sunday that work to
strengthen its border with the Gaza Strip had entered a new phase, with
construction starting on a massive new barrier along the frontier.
“Over the weekend we began building the above-ground barrier along the Gaza
border,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told journalists before the weekly
cabinet meeting.
The barrier, set to stand six metres (20 feet) off the ground, “will
prevent terrorists from Gaza from penetrating into our territory on the
ground”, he said in Hebrew.
Netanyahu gave no further details but a defence ministry statement said
that work on the structure began Thursday.
It is set to follow the 65-kilometre (40-mile) course of an underground
barrier also under construction meant to neutralise the threat of cross-
border tunnels built by Gaza militants.
At its western end, the statement said, the above-ground barrier would join
a fortified sea wall jutting into the Mediterranean, aimed at blocking
Palestinian attacks by water.
“It’s massive and especially strong,” the ministry said in an accompanying
video clip.
In the last Gaza war in 2014, Israeli forces killed four Hamas militants
who had managed to cross into Israel by water.
Some Israeli commentators have said that Netanyahu would be unwilling to
see a new uptick in hostilities with Gaza’s Hamas rulers in the runup to
general elections set for April 9.
But the premier, who is also defence minister, on Sunday pledged the
upcoming polls would not affect security decisions.
“If the quiet is not maintained in Gaza, we will make the decisions even in
the elections period and will not hesitate to act,” he said.
Palestinians have for nearly a year gathered at least weekly along the Gaza
border for often-violent protests.
They want to be able to return to the homes their families fled in the war
surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948, and are calling for an end to the
Jewish state’s blockade of Gaza.
At least 246 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since
March 30, the majority during border protests but also by tank fire and
airstrikes.
Two Israeli soldiers have been killed over the same period.
Israel says its actions are necessary to defend the border and stop mass
incursions into its territory.
It accuses Hamas, with whom it has fought three wars since 2008, of seeking
to use the protests as cover to carry out violence.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1937 hrs