The Israeli newspaper Haaretz claims Egypt is installing underground metal sheets - 20 to 30 metres deep - along its border with the Gaza Strip. The paper says it is doing so to block smugglers using tunnels to get to and from the Palestinian enclave. Egyptian authorities have not confirmed this.
The tunnels are used mainly to smuggle consumer goods and medicine from Egypt into the Gaza Strip. However, the Israelis accuse the smugglers of also using them to bring in weapons. Smuggling has increased ever since Israel closed off the Gaza Strip in 2007, in response to the Hamas organisation winning control of the territory in June of that year.
Palestinians say such a metal wall will not prevent smugglers. They will either bore through it, go around it or dig under it.
Photo of tunnel on the border between Gaza and Egypt by Marius Arnesen (flickr)
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