Israel Begins Construction Of New Gaza Border Barrier

(France 24)

03/02/2019 14:30

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 meters (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 defense 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 neutralize 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.

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