Israel hopes Egypt completes Gaza wall by year end

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"Israel hopes an underground wall that Egypt is building along its border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to stop smuggling will be completed by the end of the year, a senior Israeli official said on Sunday.

Cairo has played down the scope of the work along the 14-km (8-mile) frontier, but the Islamist group Hamas condemns it as a "wall of death" that could complete an Israeli-led blockade of Gaza by eliminating smugglers' tunnels from the Egyptian Sinai.

"The Egyptians are working on a project which I hope will be completed by the end of the year," said the senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"This project, which involves laying a steel barrier 20 meters underground as well as a security system, should stop most of the smuggling along the Philadelphi (corridor)," the official said, referring to the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Israel has long lobbied Egypt to tackle the cross-border smuggling, which supplies Palestinians with both munitions and basic commercial goods lacking in Gaza because of the Israeli blockade on the rest of Gaza's land border.

"I can't say we are completely satisfied, but we have noted that the Egyptians are taking action," the official said.

Senior Israeli and Egyptian officials meet regularly to discuss regional security issues."

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1. Israel, Gaza tensions: Why Egypt helps maintain the blockade

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"Israel today threatened a second Gaza war if Palestinian militants do not cease the rocket attacks that have increased as discontent simmers over a long-standing blockade. But while Gazans, supported by international human rights activists, have lambasted Israel for the blockade, often overlooked is the accessory role of neighboring Egypt.

Egypt has also kept its border with Gaza largely closed, despite the intense public anger it arouses here and throughout the Muslim world.

The move is motivated by regional rivalries and international alliances, say analysts. Egypt doesn’t want to take the pressure off Israel, which it holds responsible for running Gaza. At the same time, Egypt has an interest in weakening militant Islamist group Hamas, which rules the territory. And many suspect that US pressure plays into Egypt's participation in the blockade, though Egypt denies this.

Emad Gad, an analyst at the government-funded Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, boils the issue down to Egypt’s opposition to Hamas.

"Hamas is part of another coalition in the region – the Iran, Syria, Hezbollah coalition,” he says. “Hamas is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. And Hamas is trying to minimize the Egyptian role in the Palestinian cause.”

Under these circumstances, he says, Egypt has little reason to end the blockade."

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2. WAIT, Egypt doesn't just do Israel's bidding? Bad narrative, bad! Israel must be to blame!

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3. Group challenges Egypt's barrier to Gaza in court

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"Palestinian supporters in Egypt are taking the government to court to prevent them building an impregnable barrier along the border with Gaza.

The group, which includes support from UK and US citizens, say the plan is a violation of international law and breaks agreements with the Arab League.

But the Egyptian government say the barrier is needed to protect its sovereignty and security.

The court is expected to rule on the case in June.

But even if the decision goes in the group's favour, the government has ignored such rulings in the past, says Christian Fraser, the BBC's correspondent in Cairo.

The plaintiffs are supported by Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the UN nuclear watchdog, who is now the leader of the National Coalition for Change.

He says as well as stopping weapons, the barrier will prevent much-needed food and medical supplies entering the Gaza Strip."

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