Friday, August 8, 2008 Free Headline Alerts
TEL AVIV — Israel and the United States have submitted a plan to tighten security on the notoriously porous border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
On the eve of the visit by an Israeli visit to discuss the proposal, Egypt reported the discovery of 20 tunnels to the Gaza Strip as well as the seizure of thousands of gallons of fuel. Four smugglers, said to be laying an 800-meter underground pipe to transfer fuel from Sinai to Gaza, were also arrested by Egyptian police on Aug. 7.
Under the proposal, Egypt would build an advanced technology barrier that would contain several components. Officials said the security system in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula would be able to withstand bombings, and tunnel infiltration.
"The proposal was based on the Israeli and U.S. experience in border security systems," an official said.
In 2008, Egypt placed concrete slabs and barbed wire along the 14-kilometer Gaza-Sinai border. But officials said the barrier remains vulnerable to both infiltration and Hamas attack.
On Aug. 10, Egypt and Israel are scheduled to discuss the plan to enhance the Sinai-Gaza border wall. The Israeli delegation is scheduled to be headed by Amos Gilad and focus on ways to halt weapons smuggling from Sinai to the Gaza Strip.
The border system, estimated at more than $100 million, would contain a 12-meter concrete wall, designed to prevent scaling. The wall was designed to be thick enough to withstand a bombing such as that in January 2008, when the Egyptian border was destroyed by Hamas operatives.
The proposed concrete wall would be enhanced by an electronic fence. The fence would contain motion detectors and infrared cameras to stop infiltrators.
Officials said the proposed security barrier would also be able to detect attempts to dig underneath the border. About 250 tunnels were said to have been constructed through the Sinai-Gaza border.
Israeli military intelligence and the Israel Security Agency have been divided in their assessments over Egyptian efforts to block weapons smuggling to the Gaza Strip. Military intelligence has determined that Cairo was making a genuine effort to stop the weapons flow while ISA concluded that Egypt remains ineffective. ISA director Yuval Diskin said at least 50 anti-tank missiles have entered the Gaza Strip since June 2008.
So far, Egypt has not responded to the Israeli-U.S. offer to enhance the Gaza wall. Officials said the regime of President Hosni Mubarak does not want any direct Israeli involvement in the border project.
Still, Egypt has accepted U.S. military assistance to improve border security. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineering has provided detection equipment and training to detect and destroy weapons tunnels.