Egypt halts construction on anti-smuggling fence

The Egyptian government has halted construction of an underground security fence between its border and the Gaza Strip. Initiated by the Mubarak government two years ago, the barrier was designed to stop the flow of arms to Hamas from Egyptian soil through the hundreds of smuggling tunnels connecting the two regions. The Jerusalem Postreports,

Egypt began building the underground barrier in late 2009 to a depth of about 20 meters and along 10 kilometers of the border, where most of the hundreds of smuggling tunnels which serve as Hamas’s main conduit for weapons are located. While smugglers succeeded in breaching the wall in some parts, Israeli officials said that it had been partly effective in places where it was built by making it more difficult for smugglers to dig tunnels across the border.

The construction also revealed Egypt’s desire to do its part in diminishing the terrorist capabilities of Hamas.

But now, as the world anxiously wonders whether post-Mubarak Egypt is going to keep its peace pact with the Israelis, this construction freeze is an early indication that it will not. As the Trumpet has reported, as Mubarak goes, so too will Egypt’s support for a lasting peace with Israel.