Finally the Egyptians are taking seriously the problem of smuggling along the southern Gaza border. The large number of Palestinian tunnels are used to smuggle luxuries, people, money to support Hamas, and especially weapons. I am sure Egypt is pressured by Israel and the US to stop the free flow of missile and rocket parts that Hamas and other groups are using to assemble their rockets that attack Israel.

The main danger is not the small, inaccurate rockets that are primitive in nature, have low explosive power and also poor accuracy. The main problem is that Hamas is assembling sophisticated rockets from Iran that can hit main Israeli canters, even Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Israeli military commanders informed the Knesset recently about this increased danger.
Adding to the danger is the continues planning by Iran to attack Israel by rockets from the south – Gaza, and the north – Hezbollah, if Israel bomb Iran’s nuclear installations.
That could put most Israelis in danger and could cripple the country.

The reality is that Hezbollah already has a much larger number of rockets than it had before the 06 war and many more long range rockets than before. Those long range rockets forced most Israelis in the North part of Israel, including Haifa, to their shelters stopping most civil and commercial activities there. If Hamas would join the fight, and there is no reason they would not, much of Israel would be frozen.

Just imagine if the West Bank would be free to have clear borders with the outside world and no Israeli military there. Any instability could lead to rocket attacks from all directions from Arab terrorists imbedded inside civilian areas. And Israel will have to counter attack with powerful forces that will kill a lot of Arab civilians.

And the world, as before, will blame Israel for inhumanity towards the Palestinians.

Matania

Egyptians build steel Gaza wall
By Christian Fraser
BBC News, Cairo

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 10-11 km (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.
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