CAIRO: UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes last week addressed Egypt’s role in the blockade on Gaza, warning of a humanitarian disaster if Egypt blocked the tunnels that run through its border to the Gaza Strip.
If [the] tunnels [between Egypt and Gaza] were blocked, however undesirable they may be, the situation without the tunnels would be completely unsustainable, he said in front of the UN when addressing the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
“People are living in a large open-air prison, he added.
“Egypt plays a very important role in Gaza, Abdel Fattah Hamed from the Middle East Association for Peace and Human Rights told Daily News Egypt, referring not only to its prominent role in Middle Eastern peace talks.
He also insists on the necessity of the wall as a measure essential for Egypt’s security.
“The majority of Egyptians support the government’s initiative, he said.
Emad Gad of Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies echoed his sentiments.
“I think [the wall] is efficient and necessary.
“It’s not an Egyptian issue, but an international one, he told Daily News Egypt, referring to the humanitarian and political situation in the Gaza Strip.
A fence runs along Gaza s southern border with Egypt, as it is reinforcing the area with underground metal plates to try to block the tunnels.
Justified as an Egyptian “national security measure, by President Hosni Mubarak, the wall aims at putting an end to the smuggling between Egypt and Gaza, especially because the tunnels are said to be used to provide Hamas with arms.
