Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel has accelerated efforts to complete its security
barrier along the border with Egypt.

Officials said the Defense Ministry has ordered round-the-clock work to
finish the 229-kilometer border fence with Egypt.

The officials said more than 180 kilometers of the barrier have been completed, with the remaining construction expected to finish by October.

“We’re racing against the clock, improving techniques as we work all
night in some instances,” Bezalel Treiber, head of the Defense Ministry project, said.

On June 18, at least three people were killed in a Bedouin attack on the Egyptian-Israeli border. Military sources said a Bedouin squad employed rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun fire toward Israeli construction crews near the Gaza Strip. Fighting later spread to the Gaza Strip, and at least four Palestinian rockets were fired into Israel.

“Three or maybe four terrorists are still inside Israeli territory, and
we are currently trying to find them,” a military spokeswoman said.

Officials said the security fence has been deemed a priority of the
government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They said the $400 million
barrier as well as air and ground patrols would block infiltration of
insurgents as well as African migrants from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

The accelerated construction has enabled the project’s 100 contractors
to complete 20 kilometers of fencing in two weeks. Officials said the most
difficult part of the project would be the mountains near Eilat, which spans 40 kilometers.

The ministry has ordered the deployment of the Israel Army to protect
contractors from snipers in Sinai. Officials said Bedouin smugglers were
encouraging hundreds of African migrants to storm the fence.

“Our national task is to complete this fence as soon as possible,
despite this tragic recent event,” Defense Ministry Director-General Udi
Shani said. “The terrorists’ aim was to stop the construction of the fence,
but our job is to finish it as quickly as possible in order to prevent
terrorists from infiltrating into Israeli territory in the future.”

Officials said the ministry has also contracted for the construction of
detention centers for infiltrators. In 2011, the rate of African
infiltration ran at the rate of up to 1,000 per week.

“This will help stem the flood of infiltrators,” Netanyahu said.

  Bedouin attacks, Benjamin Netanyahu, Bezalel Treiber, Eilat, Israel Defense Ministry, Israel rushes to complete 229-kilometer fence along Egypt border, Sinai Peninsula, Udi Shani