Israel offers to help Egypt rebuild wall on Gaza border

Israel has offered to help Egypt build a technologically advanced wall on the Gaza Strip border, an Israeli defense source said Monday.

Since the border breach between Egypt and the Gaza Strip in January this year the Egyptians have made only rudimentary repairs. They fear another border breach and Palestinian invasion of Sinai, and are therefore amenable to building an effective border on the "Philadelphi route," especially west of Rafah, where there are still several holes in the fence.

Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad and a senior Shin Bet official are to go to Cairo next week to discuss steps against arms smuggling to Gaza with Egypt's intelligence chief, General Omar Suleiman, and other Egyptian defense officials.

The Egyptians object to Israeli involvement in building the wall mainly for fear of internal criticism.

However, Egypt agreed to discuss the issue following American pressure to stop the arms smuggling and to tighten control on the Gaza border.

The Egyptians are using advanced engineering equipment they have received from the United States to locate tunnels used for smuggling.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak Monday instructed Gilad to discuss Israel's willingness with the Egyptians to help with the building of the wall.

Israel has proposed in talks with American and Egyptian officials to build the barrier from three components.

The first would be 12-meter high concrete walls, like the ones Israel uses as protection from fire. People will not be able to break them down and they will be resistant to bombs, unlike the metal fence.

The second component will be an electronic fence that would sound an alarm when people approach it. The third would combine the technological measures to locate tunnel digging or tunnels under the border fence.

The Israel-Egypt liaison committee is to convene in about two weeks with officials from the defense and foreign ministries and IDF officials. These talks, too, will focus on arms smuggling.

Israel will demand that the Egyptians step up their activity against the smuggling of arms into Gaza.

Military Intelligence and the Shin Bet disagree over the extent of the Egyptians' activity against the smuggling. MI believe the Egyptians have intensified their activity, while the Shin Bet says the activity has not changed.

Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin angered Defense Minister Barak at last week's cabinet session when he reported that since the cease-fire some four tons of explosives have been smuggled into the Gaza Strip.