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Monday, December 21, 2009     GET REAL

Palestinians fire on construction crews erecting steel wall on border

CAIRO — Palestinians have launched attacks on Egypt's security forces along the border with the Gaza Strip.   

Egyptian security sources said Palestinians had been firing toward construction crews along the Gaza border with the Sinai Peninsula. The sources said Palestinian gunners were shooting toward Egyptian crews assigned to install steel barriers as part of an anti-smuggling project that included France and the United States.

"We think the shooters are Gazans worried over how the security barrier will stop the smuggling business," an Egyptian security source said.


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The Palestinian attacks began in mid-December as Egyptian crews dug trenches along the border for the installation of the 18-meter steel slabs, meant to reach 30 meters underground. The project was meant to block the estimated 1,500 tunnels that span the 14-kilometer Sinai-Gaza border.

"Whether it is a wall or detection hardware, the important thing is that Egypt's territory must be protected," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu Al Gheit said on Dec. 20. "It must not be violated in any way."

So far, four attacks on the Egyptian border have been reported, Middle East Newsline reported. There have not been casualties reported among the construction crews or the 200 Egyptian police deployed along the border.

"The wall is in fact the same wall with reinforcements made to the foundations buried underground," the state-owned Egyptian daily Al Gomhuriya said.

The Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip said it would investigate the shootings. Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hamad, who called for the lifting of Egypt's siege of the Gaza Strip, was reported to have discussed the issue with Egyptian officials.

"Palestinians cannot bear the pressure of a tightened blockade," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said.



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