Hamas building buffer zone along Egypt border

By Nour Abu Aisha

RAFAH, Palestine (AA) – Palestinian resistance group Hamas is establishing a buffer zone along border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, according to the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.

In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said the move is part of measures "to regulate the southern border with Egypt".

The ministry said the first phase will include paving the 12-kilometer borderline and the setting up of surveillance cameras, control towers and a light system.

"The measures come in the context of the outcomes and understandings reached during the recent visit of a security delegation to Egypt,” ministry's undersecretary Tawfiq Abu Naem said in the statement.

He said the buffer zone of a 100-meter depth will be a closed military zone.

"We reassure the Egyptian side that Egypt's national security is Palestinian national security," he said.

"We can't tolerate any threat to the stable security situation on the southern border," he added.

Last month, a Hamas delegation visited Egypt for talks with Egyptian officials.

Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, which borders the Gaza Strip, has been hit by an insurgency since 2013 amid militant attacks on security forces in the peninsula.