CAIRO: The State Council will hear today the resumption of the case brought by activists against the building of an underground barrier along the border with the Gaza Strip and the continued closure of the Rafah border crossing.
Egypt began building the new underground barrier earlier this year, but only publicly admitted doing after pressure from the media. At that point, the official line was that the barrier was an extension of the barbed wire fence that ran above the ground along the 13-km border.
The underground wall is being built to stem the number of smuggling tunnels that permeate the border, and which are used to keep a steady flow of goods going into Gaza that has been under a blockade for almost three years.
The Rafah border crossing has also been closed since the blockade began, but opens intermittently for select cases such as Palestinians seeking treatment or those who study abroad.
The case was filed by former diplomat Ibrahim Yousri, who also spearheaded the campaign against the export of Egyptian natural gas to Israel at reduced prices.
The State Case Authority had argued in a previous session that the matter could not be taken to court because it was related to the sovereignty of the state and the protection of Egyptian national security.
Head of the National Coalition for Change Mohamed ElBaradei criticized the building of the underground barrier in an interview with the Palestine Information Center last week.
ElBaradei said that the building of the underground wall was being perceived as Egyptian complicity in the siege of the Gaza Strip, in place since Hamas took over the territory in June 2007.
