Crushing Gaza’s subterranean salvation

The first rumors that a building project had commenced on the Egyptian side of the Egypt-Gaza border in the northern Sinai circulated in December 2009.   Although the Egyptian government initially claimed routine maintenance along the existing border wall, by December 19, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit implicitly confirmed the construction of an underground wall intended to prevent the passage of goods and arms into the Gaza Strip. “Whether a wall or detection hardware, the main thing is that the Egyptian territory is protected,” Aboul Gheit told the state-owned weekly newspaper Al-Ahram Al-Arabi. Impassable According to Palestinian security officials, the initial phase of construction at Rafah was completed by late December and builders have moved west. Conservative estimates have put the depth of the wall at a minimum of 18 meters, and extending for 10 kilometers along the border. Although smugglers first reacted smugly, saying they would dig under it,