Egypt has informed Israel that if an agreement for a hostage deal and ceasefire is reached, Cairo and Washington intend to work together to build an underground barrier at the Gaza border to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip, according to an Army Radio report.
Egypt stated that work on the barrier could commence during the first days of the potential truce. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a list of nonnegotiable Israeli demands for an agreement, including preventing the smuggling of weaponry from Egypt to Gaza.
The IDF has discovered at least 25 cross-border smuggling tunnels between Egypt and Gaza. Some of the tunnels were previously known to the IDF, while others were discovered for the first time when troops entered the border area.
The Egypt-Gaza barrier is a steel border barrier constructed by Egypt along its 14 km (8.5 miles) border with the Gaza Strip. In February 2020, Egypt began building a new 3-kilometre (2-mile) concrete wall along its border with the Gaza Strip, in addition to the old wall.
The project has received technical cooperation from the United States and France. Egypt reinforced the border with several hundred troops to protect construction crews from Palestinian sniper attacks.
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