Hamas slams building of steel wall on Gaza borders with Egypt

[ 20/12/2009 - 10:34 AM ]
GAZA, (PIC)-- The Movement of Hamas strongly denounced Saturday the Egyptian decision to build a steel wall along its borders with the impoverished Gaza Strip, saying that Gaza has never been a threat to the security of Egypt.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that this huge metal wall is supervised and funded by the US and part of the scheme initiated by former president George Bush which is aimed to stifle one and a half million Gazans after the failure of the Israeli war.

Spokesman Barhoum underlined that Egypt and all Arab and Muslim states are religiously and morally obliged to break the Israeli siege on Gaza and support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people, recalling that Goldstone report considered the blockade on Gaza a crime against humanity.

The spokesman stressed that the statements of Israeli officials such as Avigdor Lieberman and extremist settlers against Arabs and the Palestinians confirm that the Israeli occupation is the threat to Egypt and Gaza.

He also condemned Mahmoud Abbas for expressing his support for building this wall, saying that Abbas always reflects his desire for imposing more restrictions on Gaza in order to ensure his survival as the chief of the Palestinian Authority.

In the same context, the Palestinian government headed by premier Ismail Haneyya expressed its deep concern over Egypt’s intention to build a metal wall in Rafah border area.

Spokesman for the government Taher Al-Nunu said that premier Haneyya intends to contact the Egyptian leadership to find out what is going on in this regard.

“As we stress the Egyptian sovereignty over its lands, we hope that [Egypt] will not take any action that increases the blockade on our people,” the spokesman added.

The spokesman highlighted that Gaza and the Palestinian people have never been one day a threat to the Egyptian national security, but the real enemy which poses a threat to the security of Egypt and the whole region is the Israeli occupation.

For his part, Palestinian interior minister Fathi Hammad made a number of phone calls to Egyptian officials to urge them to refrain from building the wall and to take steps towards ending the siege on Gaza.

The association of Palestinian scholars called on the Egyptian authorities to immediately stop the construction of the metal wall on its border with Gaza and open the Rafah border crossing, warning that the building of this wall is considered participation in the blockade and aggression on Gaza people.

The association also appealed to the Arab League and the organization of the Islamic conference to pressure the Egyptian government to stop building the wall and urged all Muslim scholars especially in Egypt to declare their positions against this serious step.

In the same context, the Israeli Debka website reported that the head of the French military intelligence visited French officers who are supervising the building of the metal wall on the Egyptian-Palestinian borders in cooperation with Egyptians and Americans.

The website said that this wall is the first of its kind in the world which is built to prevent the digging of tunnels, adding that the French intelligence head watched Egyptian cranes lift armored iron plates 18 meters long and 50 cm thick and drive them into the ground along the border which divides Gaza from Egyptian Sinai.

It noted that electronic devices such as sensors, laser instruments and surveillance cameras will be installed on the wall.

The BBC website also reported that the Egyptians are being helped by American military engineers, who designed the wall.

As a result of the tight blockade imposed on Gaza, the tunnels as well as aid convoys became the only lifeline for providing Gaza people with vital humanitarian needs.