ISRAEL: Israel plans to build a moat along the Gaza-Egypt border to prevent arms reaching Palestinian militants through tunnels.
The Defence Ministry yesterday invited tenders for the project, 11 days after the cabinet approved in principle a Gaza withdrawal plan, under which Israel would keep a narrow corridor on the Egyptian frontier pending possible security arrangements with Cairo.
Inviting bids by July 12th, the ministry said the southern Gaza Strip "canal" would be 15 to 25 metres deep and stretch four kilometres.
"This is the beginning of turning the Gaza Strip into a big prison," Palestinian cabinet minister Mr Saeb Erekat said, comparing the trench to the barrier Israel is constructing in the West Bank.
The notice, in Israeli newspapers, did not give the width of the canal - a figure crucial to determining whether any Palestinian homes along the "Philadelphia Corridor" buffer zone beside the Rafah refugee camp would be demolished.
Israel's Defence Ministry and the army declined to elaborate on the project.