Egypt–Gaza barrier

The Egypt–Gaza barrier refers to the steel border barrier along the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Because it is essentially splitting the city of Rafah, the steel barrier is also referred as a separation wall.

In December 2009, Egypt started with help from the US, the building of a steel wall along the Gaza border. If it is finished, the wall will be 10-11 km (6-7 miles) long and extend 18 metres (60 feet) below the surface. The wall was to be completed in 18 months.

On 29 October 2014, Egypt had begun demolishing homes along its border with the Gaza Strip as part of a planned 500 metres (550 yards) buffer zone that is intended to prevent weapons smuggling entering Gaza.

The project enjoys technical cooperation from the United States and France.

Egypt has reinforced the border with several hundred troops to protect construction crews from Palestinian sniper attacks.

Palestinian sources said that construction of the barrier was damaging dozens of smuggling tunnels as deep as 30 meters (100 feet), causing them to collapse on a nearly daily basis and killing operators, especially tunnels near the Rafah border terminal. They added that most of the 1,500 tunnels between Gaza and Egypt remained unaffected. The sources also stated that the project has alarmed the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip, which charges an annual $2,500 for the right to operate a tunnel.

According to analysts at a January 2010 Egyptian security conference, the barrier reflects Cairo's concern that al-Qaeda-inspired militants from the Gaza Strip will infiltrate Egypt after being forced out by Hamas, the de facto governing authority in the Strip, which the State of Israel considers as a terrorist group. The analysts said Egypt could become a haven and a battleground for small Salafist militant groups such as Jund Ansar Allah, Jaysh al Islam and Jaljalat, which have been squashed by Hamas since it took control in 2007.

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