Israel making underground wall to block ‘attack tunnels’

Jerusalem, August 10 

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Israel is pushing ahead with a project to build a giant underground wall around the Gaza Strip to block tunnels that could be used for attacks, the army said today.

The project comes after the government faced heavy criticism over Hamas’s use of tunnels in the 2014 Gaza war, with a state inquiry earlier this year accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and army top brass of being unprepared for the threat.

“In the coming months, we are going to accelerate the construction of the barrier. We hope that construction will be complete in two years,” Major General Eyal Zamir said.

Construction Minister Yoav Galant said the wall will be built in Israeli territory parallel to the border fence sealing off the Palestinian enclave run by Islamist movement Hamas. “The fact that the work will be located in our sovereign territory rules out any justification for attacks against those working there,” Galant said. — AFP

The 2-year project

• The wall, comprising concrete planks and sensors, will stretch some 64 km and is expected to be some 20 ft high and 40 m deep and cost around $834 million
• The wall will be built parallel to the border fence sealing off the Palestinian enclave run by Islamist movement Hamas and is expected to be complete in two years
• The project comes after the government faced criticism over a vast network of tunnels built by Hamas under the Gaza border, which it used in the 2014 war.