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Egypt Accelerates Construction of Border Wall with Gaza

Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas patrol near the border between Egypt and Gaza. (Reuters file photo)
Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas patrol near the border between Egypt and Gaza. (Reuters file photo)
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Egypt Accelerates Construction of Border Wall with Gaza

Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas patrol near the border between Egypt and Gaza. (Reuters file photo)
Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas patrol near the border between Egypt and Gaza. (Reuters file photo)

Egyptian authorities have sped up efforts to construct a wall on the border with the Gaza Strip, in an attempt to end the infiltration of extremists to and from Sinai.

Palestinian sources in Gaza said the Egyptian army intensified its construction work, which it started in late January.

The construction intensified after an Egyptian intelligence delegation visited the Strip this week. The delegation was accompanied by an engineering team which visited the border region.

The 6-meter-high “separation wall” will extend along the border and reach five meters underground.

Israeli media said the construction will be completed before the end of 2020. The western part of the barrier will be merged with the Israeli system established under and above water in the Mediterranean Sea, to prevent divers from infiltrating into settlements near Gaza.

Palestinian media published photos showing the construction of the wall along the Gaza Strip.

Construction has accelerated significantly in the recent period and Egyptian authorities are working to finish the wall in the shortest possible time, according to local Palestinian sources.

The Hamas movement in Gaza cooperates closely with Cairo to end infiltration operations. In recent months, the movement has pushed more of its forces to the border to better secure the area.

Within two years, Hamas bulldozed several areas, installed barbed wire and cameras and began patrolling the border. Hundreds of its security personnel monitor the border with Egypt, as the movement seeks to crack down on ISIS elements in Sinai.

Hamas focuses on pursuing and arresting members of extremist organizations, and usually refers them to military trials before imprisoning them.

Field control forces, which include members of the al-Qassam Brigades and Interior Ministry, monitor the borders with Egypt. The Interior Ministry plays a direct role in securing the border, but al-Qassam Brigades occasionally intervene to secure the Rafah area to prevent “salafist jihadists” from crossing the border where they operate with ISIS in Sinai.

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UN Agency Closes the Rest of Its Gaza Bakeries as Food Supplies Dwindle under Israeli Blockade

Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)
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UN Agency Closes the Rest of Its Gaza Bakeries as Food Supplies Dwindle under Israeli Blockade

Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)

The UN food agency is closing all of its bakeries in the Gaza Strip, officials said Tuesday, as food supplies dwindle after Israel sealed the territory off from all imports nearly a month ago.

Israel, which tightened its blockade and later resumed its offensive in order to pressure Hamas into accepting changes to their ceasefire agreement, said that enough food entered Gaza during the six-week truce to sustain the territory's roughly 2 million Palestinians.

Markets largely emptied weeks ago, and UN. agencies say the supplies they built up during the truce are running out. Gaza is heavily reliant on international aid, because the war has destroyed almost all of its food production capability.

Mohammed al-Kurd, a father of 12, said that his children go to bed without dinner.

“We tell them to be patient and that we will bring flour in the morning,” he said. “We lie to them and to ourselves.”

A World Food Program memo circulated to aid groups on Monday said that it could no longer operate its remaining bakeries, which produce the pita bread on which many rely. The UN agency said that it was prioritizing its remaining stocks to provide emergency food aid and expand hot meal distribution. WFP spokespeople didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that the WFP was closing its remaining 19 bakeries after shuttering six others last month. She said that hundreds of thousands of people relied on them.

The Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian affairs, known as COGAT, said that more than 25,000 trucks entered Gaza during the ceasefire, carrying nearly 450,000 tons of aid. It said that amount represented around a third of what has entered during the entire war.

“There is enough food for a long period of time, if Hamas lets the civilians have it,” it said.

UN agencies and aid groups say that they struggled to bring in and distribute aid before the ceasefire took hold in January. Their estimates for how much aid actually reached people in Gaza were consistently lower than COGAT’s, which were based on how much entered through border crossings.

The war began when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Hamas is still holding 59 captives — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, including hundreds killed in strikes since the ceasefire ended, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't say whether those killed in the war are civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israel sealed off Gaza from all aid at the start of the war, but later relented under pressure from Washington. US President Donald Trump's administration, which took credit for helping to broker the ceasefire, has expressed full support for Israel's actions, including its decision to end the truce.

Israel has demanded that Hamas release several hostages before commencing talks on ending the war, negotiations that were supposed to have begun in early February. It has also insisted that Hamas disarm and leave Gaza, conditions that weren't part of the ceasefire agreement.

Hamas has called for implementing the agreement, in which the remaining hostages would be released in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli pullout.