CAIRO — Egypt has suspended construction of parts of its underground steel barrier along the Gaza Strip.   

The sources said the rock formation has hampered construction crews from placing the steel plates deeper than four meters in the ground. They said the Egyptian project called for the plates to reach up to 30 meters underground.

The Egyptian daily Al Masri Al Yom said the suspension of the construction would be temporary. On Feb. 12, the newspaper reported that the project was also halted in January 2010 when the Gaza Strip and eastern Sinai were drenched by heavy rain.

"Smuggling activity through underground tunnels was recently reported to have declined in the divided city of Rafah, which straddles the Egypt-Gaza border," the newspaper said. "Eyewitnesses, however, say they continue to see smugglers successfully bypassing the barrier via deeper tunnels."

The sources said Egyptian security forces have blocked weapons shipments to the Gaza Strip. On Feb. 16, police were reported to have found 3.5 tons of TNT in the Egyptian-controlled section of Rafah along the border with the Gaza Strip.

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