Egypt has the constructed an underground and overground barrier along its border with the Gaza Strip, designed to help combat smuggling. The barrier consists of metal piles, each several dozen centimeters thick, about 80 meters away from the border, at the depth of 15-30 m. The barrier will to span about 10 km (6 miles), of which at least 150 m have been completed thus far.
The construction of the underground barrier by Egypt ("the wall", or "the fence of death", as it is referred to by Hamas spokesmen) is a major cause for concern for Hamas, considering the negative impact it will likely have on the smuggling industry. That industry, which includes smuggling weapons and civilian goods, is a major component in the military buildup of Hamas. Arms and ammunition, some of them originating in Iran, are transported to the Gaza Strip through the tunnels. Smuggling them into the Gaza Strip helped Hamas rebuild its military infrastructure after Operation Cast Lead, also by restoring its ability to launch rockets into central Israel.
Hamas launched a media campaign against Egypt to make it stop the construction of the barrier. At the same time, Hamas leaders called on the Arab world and the international community not to sit idly by. Some of them even accused Egypt of collaborating with Israel and the US to "smother" one and a half million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. In addition, Hamas leaders Khaled Mash'al and Mahmoud al-Zahar admitted that Hamas was smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip; Khaled Mash'al claimed, however, that the barrier constructed by Egypt would not prevent weapons smuggling because alternative ways to do it would be found. The Egyptian regime, through its government media and mosque preachers, countered by blaming Hamas for the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Hamas's media campaign was also accompanied by pressure on the ground. At first, Palestinian snipers fired at an Egyptian construction team, and even hit an Egyptian construction vehicle that was working on the site. In the second phase, violent clashes broke out along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt due to a protest rally organized by Hamas in front of the Rafah crossing to welcome the "Lifeline-3" convoy. The events resulted in the death of an Egyptian soldier and a Palestinian demonstrator; 35 Palestinians were wounded, five of them severely. The violent clashes underscore the tension between Hamas and Egypt over the construction of the barrier and over the difficulties imposed by Egyptian authorities on the arrival of aid convoys to the Gaza Strip.
Building the barrier might be used, in our assessment, as a tool by Egypt for preventing the spread of Hamas influence from the Gaza Strip to Islamic opposition at home (the Muslim Brotherhood). The barrier might also weaken Hamas and strengthen Egyptian influence over it by making it difficult for Hamas to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip. In addition, in our assessment, Egypt has an interest in preventing its territory from becoming the main channel for introducing civilian aid into the Gaza Strip, in view of the difficulties of transferring it through the crossings between the Gaza Strip and Israel.
The Hamas's media campaign and the reactions of Hamas
Legislative Council representatives in Gaza (most of them members of Hamas) gathered for an emergency meeting where they decided to launch a large-scale media campaign to raise awareness of the dangers to which the construction of the barrier would expose Gaza Strip residents. It was also decided to address Arab and international organizations, requesting to file lawsuits against the construction of the barrier. The council asked the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and human rights organizations to file lawsuits against the "wall of steel" constructed by Egypt along the Gaza Strip border, and assert that its construction contradicts international agreements. The Legislative Council demanded that Egypt stop the construction, and that the international community take responsibility for "lifting the blockade" on the Gaza Strip (Palestine-info, December 23).
A cartoon criticizing Arab countries' silence over the construction of the fence in Rafah (the Hamas website)
. Khaled Mash'al, the chief of the Hamas Political Bureau, said that the construction of the "steel wall" was another sign of Israel's intention to soon launch another assault on the Gaza Strip in revenge for its failure in Operation Cast Lead.
WHAT HE MEANS IS THAT NO ARAB NATION OR ANYONE ELSE FOR THAT MATTER, GIVES A FUCK ABOUT GAZA, HAVE NEVER GONE TO THEIR AID, EXCEPT IRAN WHO SUPPLY HAMAS WITH ARMS. IF ISRAEL IS NOT INVOLVED THE HOMEGROWN PALESTINIAN HUMANITARIAN BRIGADE STAY SILENT AS THEY HAVE FOR THE THOUSANDS OF PALESTINIANS STARVING TO DEATH IN YARMOUK IN SYRIA WHICH HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS MAKING GAZA LIKE A 5 STAR HOLIDAY CAMP!
We are being killed here, Yarmouk camp is being annihilated,” said Ahmad, a resident of the Palestinian camp just a few miles from the center of the Syrian capital who was given a pseudonym to protect his identity.
Yarmouk, once a bustling southern suburb of Damascus of 200,000 people, has been starved for two years in a relentless siege by Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which has also blocked water supplies for months, a tactic that activists say constitutes the use of water as a tool of war.
Now the remaining 18,000 residents, many of whom suffer from ailments ranging from malnourished to liver disease and illnesses linked to consuming tainted water, are mired on the frontline of the latest offensive by the terror group Islamic State, which has seized the majority of the camp.
“The situation inside the camp is catastrophic,” said Ahmad. “There is no food or electricity or water, Daesh [Arabic acronym for Isis] is killing and looting the camp, there are clashes, there is shelling. Everyone is shelling the camp.
So where are you George Galloway, Roger Walters, Russel Brand, Mia Farrow, Stephen Hawkins and of course Lora A. Lucero . Do these Palestinians who are being slaughtered at will and driven from their homes not matter?
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