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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Report: Egypt further fortifies borders with Gaza, this time at sea |
| 2010-01-17 |
| [Ma'an] Egypt is building a small sea port for patrol boats monitoring the country's border with Gaza in an effort to further block the Palestinian enclave's access to smuggling routes, Reuters reported Friday. "The new anchorage will enhance the work of the Egyptian patrol boats on the sea border with Gaza and prevent any attempts of smuggling by sea," Reuters quoted an Egyptian security source in North Sinai as saying. The anchorage, according to the report, will be 10 meters deep and 25 meters long, and used to moor border patrol boats charged with ensuring Palestinian fishing boats stay in Gazan coastal waters. Egypt has said it believes the boats are being used to carry out smuggling operations, though there have never been reports of such incidents. "It is to secure the area. It will be used to direct fishing boats in the area to ensure they do not cross the Israeli sea border and risk getting fired at," the security sources told Reuters. The anchorage likely means stepped up sea presence by Egypt, and comes as the country nears completion of a 10 kilometer underground wall along the Rafah border, which is says is designed to stop smuggling. The tunnels are the only way Gazans can bring thousands of goods into the Strip. Israel has maintained a tight blockade of the area, letting in only 36 types of goods for the past three years. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 A reallllly long distance, Steve. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2010-01-17 12:08 |
| #2 Judging by all the wall-building their neighbors are doing, the Paleos are best appreciated at a distance. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2010-01-17 11:02 |
| #1 Palestinians---you gotta have an Ivy League (or European equivalent) degree to appreciate their good points. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-01-17 02:06 |