| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Mideast Mediators Seek Anti-Tunnel Plan |
| 2009-01-08 |
| The biggest hurdle to winning a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, according to diplomats and Israeli military officials, is a problem that has bedeviled Israel for years: how to stop Hamas from digging tunnels into Egypt in order to bring tons of rockets and other weaponry into Gaza. Mediators are trying to come up with an anti-tunnel plan to satisfy Israel, which has said it won't agree to a truce unless it includes concrete measures to prevent Hamas from rearming. Some of the ideas under consideration include construction of a giant underground barrier along the nine-mile border between southern Gaza and Egypt, as well as international military patrols with the authority to search for and destroy any freshly built tunnels, Israeli officials said. Former British prime minister Tony Blair, who along with several other European leaders has been trying to broker a deal, said Tuesday in Jerusalem that an "immediate cease-fire" was within reach if a solution to the tunnel problem could be found. "These circumstances focus very much around clear action to cut off the supply of arms and money through the tunnels that go from Egypt into Gaza," Blair told BBC radio. "I think that is the one basis on which we could bring a quick halt to" the fighting, he added. "Otherwise, I think we are in for a protracted campaign." Israeli military officials estimated that they had blown up about half of the estimated 300 smugglers' tunnels along the Gaza-Egyptian border since Israel began airstrikes Dec. 27. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 A joint Egyptian / Israeli sensor line right down the border with publicly accessible information. Put it on the net let everyone see the gophers coming...........and going........boom. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2009-01-08 13:37 |
| #5 canal issues 1. Enviro - Salt water canal (off the med) presumably will lead to more salinization of the ground water, a big issue. Fresh water to precious to use. 2. Symbolism - the Hamas sympathizers worldwide will scream that this makes Gaza more of a prison 3. Politics - A moat emphasizes the SEPERATION of Gaza from Egypt. Politically its more to Israel's advantage to emphasize the connection of Gaza and Egypt. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2009-01-08 12:24 |
| #4 Why does the picture of a couple guys hauling gas and ammo through a tunnel suddenly set upon by badgers bring a smile to my face? |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2009-01-08 12:10 |
| #3 The easy low tech approach is to build a 40' deep 100' wide canal along the corridor but the environmentalists don't like it. The other issue is control of the Rafah crossing itself. Egypt wants the PA to have control. Hamas obviously doesn't want that. |
| Posted by: mhw 2009-01-08 09:09 |
| #2 Can they not use ground penetrating radar to find the tunnels? Seems they'd be fairly easy to collapse once found, they look like deathtraps anyway. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2009-01-08 09:07 |
| #1 Keep seeking---take all the time you need. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-01-08 03:32 |