Israel makes it official: Another wall on the way

Israel officially declared it will build a long-promised security wall on the Gaza border to stop Palestinians from entering through tunnels. The Nov. 12 announcement by Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon was short on details, leaving room for a lot of speculation. It did not specify whether the wall will consist of a land barrier parallel to the border fence encircling the Gaza Strip, a deep ditch along the border fence or a cement wall at the base of the fence like the West Bank wall.

Al-Monitor attended a workshop held Nov. 18 by the Palestinian Institute for Strategic Studies in Gaza. Prominent Palestinian academics and political, economic and security analysts participated in the gathering, which focused on the Israeli wall issue. The participants excluded the possibility that Israel Defense Forces will build a cement or iron wall that extends underground to prevent the construction of tunnels, since the budget allocated to the IDF is not likely to allow such an option. Workshop participants estimated such a project would require about $2 billion.

Participants said Israel is likely to copy Egypt's measures of destroying the tunnels by digging a large tunnel parallel to the Gaza border and pumping water into it. Another possibility was also discussed: Israel could build an underground barrier on the border and equip the border fence with surveillance cameras.

Israelis near the Gazan border have been calling for a plan to protect them from armed Gazans for more than a year, and have demanded that the government equip the borders with devices to detect the digging of tunnels. The IDF also is seeking ways to keep recent Palestinian attacks in the West Bank from expanding. Sporadic confrontations have erupted between Palestinian demonstrators and the IDF along the Gaza border since the West Bank uprising started in October.