Egypt Denies Underground Anti-Smuggling Wall

Egypt is denying reports that it is constructing an underground metal wall to prevent smuggling into Gaza. According to Al-Jazeera:

"Egypt has denied it is constructing an underground steel barrier along its strip with the Gaza border in an attempt to seal off smuggling tunnels built by Palestinians.

Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, reported that Egypt was installing a metal wall up to 30 metres deep along the strip used by Palestinians to break the Israeli blockade of the territory.

The paper reported that the wall would be nearly 10km long as 'impossible to cut or melt'.

But Egyptian sources told Al Jazeera that bulldozers and construction workers in the area are carrying out routine maintenance work, dismissing the Israeli report as 'baseless.'"

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/12/20091210112044134627.html

Your usual maintenance work along the Gaza border? Yeah, right. According to sources quoted by the Jerusalem Post, holes are drilled during the day, and metal is sunk into the sand at night. The Jerusalem Post report states:

"A US Embassy official in Cairo denied there was American involvement in any barrier project on the border."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1260447419286&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

If the reports are true, the new barrier would put an end to this Gazan cottage industry of underground smuggling, one of the most lucrative businesses in the Strip. It would also defy conventional leftist wisdom that only Israel is responsible for the blockade of Gaza (which is why the steel plates are sunk into the ground during the hours of darkness). Finally, and most importantly, it would effectively prevent Hamas from obtaining additional advanced weaponry from Iran and participating in any war against Israel involving Tehran and its proxies.