Gaza–Israel barrier
[8][6] In 1993, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization signed the first of the Oslo Accords establishing the Palestinian Authority with limited administrative control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
[9] The Gaza-Israel border straddles one of the starkest economic contrasts in the world (the Korean Demilitarized Zone is the other): on the Israeli side GDP per capita is $55,000 and population density is low, while on the Palestinian side, the GDP per capita is $1,250 and population density is among the highest in the world.
[10] Commentators point out that fortifications like the Iron Wall will result in a more diabolical state of affairs not for the Gazans but for the Israeli society itself as it may never look past such metaphorical stonewalls to reach a socio-political compromise with the Palestinians.
In the 1994 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, it was agreed that "the security fence erected by Israel around the Gaza Strip shall remain in place and that the line demarcated by the fence, as shown on the map, shall be authoritative only for the purpose of the Agreement"[12] (i.e. the barrier does not necessarily constitute the border).
[13] Therefore Israel launched the construction of the enhanced security system along the Gaza border, estimated to cost $220 million and to be completed in mid-2006.
[14] It includes a 7-meter wall with sensors, remote-control machine guns and barbed wire in the three areas where the border runs adjacent to Israeli settlements.
A new element is a 70-150 meter wide buffer zone codenamed Hoovers B with motion sensors in the ground and surrounded by a new sensor-equipped fence with watchtowers every 2 kilometers, equipped with remote-control machine guns instead of soldiers, which could be targets of Palestinian snipers.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared support for the Egypt–Gaza barrier, adding: "It is the Egyptians’ sovereign right in their own country.
[32] Cairo's main Al-Azhar University officially backed the government's decision for an Egypt-Gaza barrier saying that it was the "state's right to build along its walls facilities and obstacles that will enhance its security.
[35] The discovery of similarly constructed tunnels in other parts of the world have led to updated threat assessment estimates.
[6] Chief Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat analyzed the closures of the crossings and said they have "proven to be counter-productive".
During the war ensuing from the October 7 Hamas attack, two more emergency gates were eventually opened for aid convoys.
The crossing is currently restricted to Arab residents under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority and to Egyptian nationals or international aid officials only, and is closed to tourists.
[45] On 12 March 2024, as a "pilot project", the 96th gate in the security fence (near Kibbutz Be'eri) was used by a convoy of six trucks taking humanitarian aid to northern Gaza under IDF protection.
[46] Gate 96 is slowly becoming a fixture during the war allowing aid to reach Gaza City directly, be it on a minor scale.
