Under the plan, officials said, two fences would be constructed along
the Egyptian border. The space between the fences would enable military
patrols as well as the installation of radars, motion-detection sensors and
towers.
"Defense against terror activity clearly requires a fence," Israeli
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Strip has been struck by a series of mysterious
bombings.
Palestinian sources said at least three bombs have exploded in the Gaza
Strip in a four-day period. They said the bombs were believed to have been
detonated by Al Qaida-aligned groups as part of their war against Western
influence in the Gaza Strip.
"Such attacks are part of the state of security chaos and proliferation
of weapons in the occupied Palestinian territory," the Palestinian Center
for Human Rights said.
Officials said Netanyahu's decision, taken on Jan. 10, envisioned a
border project that would last several years. They said the first stage of
the project would build a fence south of the Gaza Strip and north of the
port city of Eilat.
"This is a strategic decision to ensure the Jewish and democratic
character of the state of Israel," Netanyahu said. "Israel will remain open
to war refugees, but we cannot allow thousands of illegal workers to
infiltrate into Israel via the southern border and flood our country."
A government statement said the project, estimated at between 1 and 1.5
billion shekel, was drafted by the Defense Ministry and military. The
statement said the project would combine a physical barrier and advanced
radars and sensors.
"Technological measures will be deployed along the entire border that
will allow for the location of infiltrators and hazards in a timely
fashion," the statement said.
In the Gaza Strip, the latest bombing took place on Jan. 10 at a pharmacy in the Jabalya refugee camp north of Gaza City. The pharmacy, owned by Shadia Farouk Abu Saqer, was heavily damaged, and Hamas police said they would investigate.
The previous day, a bomb blew up in an Internet cafe in Al Qarara near
Khan Yunis. Ten computers as well as other equipment were destroyed,
Palestinian sources said.
On Jan. 6, another cafe was attacked, this time north of Gaza City.
Hamas said it would investigate the bombing of the Tal Qamar cafe.
"The attacks all fit the profile of previous targets by Salafist [Al
Qaida-aligned] groups," a Palestinian source said.
The sources said the bombings could signal the resurgence of the Al
Qaida-aligned groups in the Gaza Strip. In August 2009, Hamas security
forces raided a mosque in the southern city of Rafah and killed a leading Al
Qaida-aligned cleric.
The Al Qaida-aligned groups were believed to have formed an alliance to
oppose the Hamas regime, the sources said. They said the groups have been
bolstered by Gulf Arab funding and the influx of Islamist military advisers
from Afghanistan, Lebanon and Pakistan.
"These groups can't confront Hamas directly, so they instead try to
create an atmosphere of fear and chaos," the Palestinian source said.
