Egypt Is Building a Wall Near Gaza Border but Won’t Say Why

A wall is going up in the desert of Egypt near the border of the war-torn Gaza Strip, but no one is talking much about it.

Satellite imagery, photographs and video analyzed by The New York Times show a large patch of land being bulldozed and the wall being built in the buffer zone between Egypt and Rafah, the southern Gaza city overflowing with over a million displaced Palestinians that Israeli forces are poised to invade.

The satellite imagery clearly shows newly graded land south of the Rafah border crossing. An analysis of the satellite images indicated that the work began around Feb. 5.

But the Egyptian government, which has looked on with concern as Gazans displaced by the war between Israel and Hamas mass in Rafah, has declined to discuss the new construction. A spokesman for the government would only refer to statements by the government in recent weeks highlighting its fortification of the border.

It was not clear whether the structure might be intended to hold Gazans who crossed the border, but if it were to be used that way, it would be a major reversal of Egypt’s stance.