GAZA CITY: Israel has started construction on a concrete wall to protect highways near the Gaza Strip from anti-tank missiles.
The country’s Ministry of Defense said on Thursday that the building of the 4.6-kilometer-long wall bordering the Gaza Strip aimed at protecting Israeli towns against attacks.
It added that work had begun on the security corridor project in the Gaza Strip, which aims to allow the movement of residents in times of emergency without fear of attack.
Israel previously built a concrete wall along an exposed area of the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip after Palestinian factions carried out an operation using a guided Kornet missile that targeted an Israeli military vehicle in 2019.
BACKGROUND
A source close to the military wing of Hamas, who refused to reveal his identity, said that Israel’s big spending on security walls represented a loss.
The concrete wall was integrated with smart technology, at a cost of about 100 million shekels ($27.8 million), and was built along railway tracks to protect trains from Palestinian militants.
Palestinian fighters have also used tunnels to enter areas under Israeli control, most notably during the 2014 war that lasted for more than 50 days.
Anti-tank missiles have also been fired at Israeli vehicles during various rounds of escalation.
In June 2016, the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu built a new line of defense on the borders of the Gaza Strip to repel the offensive network of tunnels developed by Palestinian fighters.
It was the third defensive security system that Israel has built along the border line with Gaza.
The construction of an underground wall in 2017 involved more than 1,200 workers at cost of $1.2 billion.
The above-ground concrete wall includes dozens of control towers as well as hundreds of cameras, monitoring and alarm devices.
The wall also extends several kilometers into the sea, and is overseen through control rooms and operations that simulate offensive and infiltration maneuvers.
A source close to the military wing of Hamas, who refused to reveal his identity, told Arab News that Israel’s big spending on security walls represented a loss.
He said: “What the enemy fears will happen. The Palestinian resistance was able to do it many previous times, but it is strategy and objectives that it defines consciously and with careful study.
“The resistance in Gaza is capable at all times, and possesses capabilities that qualify it to surprise the enemy with qualitative operations in ways that are not expected.
“This concrete wall will not stand as an obstacle to the resistance to respond to Israel’s aggressions and crimes.”
Israel has relied on aerial bombardment during its military operations against the Gaza Strip in recent years and has not entered the area by land since 2014.
The Gaza Strip has witnessed four wars and several rounds of escalation since Hamas took control of the area in mid-2007.
Ayman Al-Rafati, a political writer close to Hamas, said that Israel seeks to make its citizens feel safe through building walls.
“The Palestinian resistance follows the Israeli moves and studies how to overcome the obstacles created by the occupation,” Al-Rafati told Arab News.
“The resistance is looking for new goals, and this wall will not affect the course of any military confrontation.
“The occupation wants to reduce the size of the losses that could affect its society.”
