CAIRO: Egypt has stated that the barrier wall along the border which Israel began digging for on Monday was an internal Israeli affair and not Egypt’s concern.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said Monday that since it was away from Egyptian land and did not affect its sovereignty then it was a domestic Israeli matter.
Zaki told CNN that Egypt does not object to the building of the wall, nor does it support it. Egypt has been building a similar barrier along the 13 km border with the Gaza Strip, north of where Israel has begun work on the Egypt border.
The idea for the barrier has been mooted by Israel for over a year now, but until now the prohibitive cost of over $370 million had held it back. It is expected to be finished within the year and its stated aim is to prevent mainly African illegal immigrants from attempts to enter Israel.
It will measure 140 km of the 250 km border in length, after being given the go-ahead by Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu in January, who said the barrier wall was “a strategic decision to ensure the Jewish and democratic character of the state of Israel.”
According to AP, on Monday Israeli TV aired footage of three bulldozers at different points of the border “clearing patches of land and digging trenches near Egyptian border posts.” There will also be an electronic barrier put in place.
Egyptian security forces have shot many of the African migrants attempting to breach the border in the past few years, with Human Rights Watch stating that 85 migrants have been killed since 2007.
Despite Egypt’s insistence that shots are fired only after repeated warnings to stop, the rights group has urged Egypt to put a stop to this.
Israeli machinery prepare the ground to build a barrier along its southern border with Egypt, some 50 kilometers of north of the Red Sea resort town of Eilat, on Nov. 22. (AFP Photo/David Buimovitch)
