El-ARISH, Egypt - Egypt is building a 10-foot-high concrete wall along its border with Gaza to prevent any new breaches after Palestinian militants blasted through the barrier in January to escape a blockade of their territory, an official said.
The new wall replaces a mixed barbed-wire, iron and concrete barrier which was breached in several places when militants blew it open with explosives, added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to talk to the media.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flooded across the open border unchecked for 12 days before Egypt managed to reseal it. They snapped up food, fuel and other goods made scarce in Gaza by an Israeli closure, imposed after Hamas violently seized control of the strip in June.
