Tel Aviv, Feb 6 (Prensa Latina) The Israeli government decided Wednesday to build a 149 mile wall at a cost of a billion dollars along the mutual border with Egypt, official sources reported.
The wall will be built across the entrance to the Sinai Peninsula to avoid attacks from Egyptian territory.
The construction of the wall will be started in two sections, one from Eilat, southern Israel on the shore of the Red Sea, and the other near Nitzana, southern Gaza Strip.
The sources confirmed the decision was made in a meeting of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni and high officials of the Army and the Secret Service.
The project took strength following the 11 day influx of Gaza residents into Egypt (Sinai Peninsula) to find basic supplies when they were blockaded by Tel Aviv.
The siege of the Gaza Strip continues, as it is politically and militarily controlled by the Hamas Islamic Resistance, which has never recognized Israel.
Tel Aviv is also constructing another wall on the West Bank, which prevents contact between the Israeli and Palestinian populations.
Ehud Olmert s cabinet also discussed a Foreign Affairs Ministry proposal to increase Egyptian guards or an international contingent on the border with Gaza, but this initiative is rejected by a sizeable sector in Israel.