Egyptian Authorities have begun the installation of bulletproof watchtowers, replacing older wooden towers, along its border with the Gaza Strip.
Egyptian Authorities have begun the installation of bulletproof watchtowers, replacing older wooden towers, along its border with the Gaza Strip.
The decision is attributed to the death of an Egyptian soldier stationed in an older wooden watchtower.
A total of 23 new towers have been prepared for installation; 13 – 16 will be installed along Gaza starting from international border marker #1, at the Mediterranean coast, until border marker #7, near the Kerem Shalom (Karem Abu Salem), 4.5 kilometers south of the Rafah Border Terminal.
Egyptian sources claim that security forces will use rubber-coated bullets to fire at protesters near the border in an attempt to limit the number of casualties and injuries.
A new plan to prevent smuggling is slated to be implemented later this year. Egyptian authorities will encircle the Egyptian side of Rafah City with barbed wire, effectively sealing it off from Gaza.
There are also Egyptian plans to install a gate on the outskirts of Rafah that can detect weapons or metal, further discouraging the entrance of supplies into Gaza.
