Egypt Constructs Massive Buffer Zone Along Southern Gaza to Prevent Israeli Ground Offensive
New satellite images have revealed that Egypt is building a massive kilometer-wide buffer zone and wall along its border with southern Gaza. This comes amid growing concerns over Israel’s planned ground offensive in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population is currently sheltered.
The newly released images, captured over the past five days by Maxar Technologies, show that a significant section of Egyptian territory between a road and the Gaza border has been leveled. If completed, the buffer zone, which extends from the end of the Gaza border to the Mediterranean Sea, will completely encompass the border complex between Egypt and Rafah.
Bulldozers arrived at the site on February 3, and initial excavation of the buffer zone began on February 6. Over the past five days, there has been a significant increase in digging, with videos released by the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights showing the construction of a border wall that is reportedly five meters high.
Despite the construction and growing fears that the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza will further deteriorate, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated plans for a military ground offensive on Rafah, calling it Hamas’ “last bastion.”
Amid these escalating tensions, a growing number of countries and international organizations, including Egypt, have called on Israel to avoid a ground operation in Gaza’s most populous city. This comes as Egypt has increased its security presence on its border with Gaza as a “precautionary” measure ahead of the expected Israeli ground operation, deploying more troops and machinery in northern Sinai, on the border with Gaza.
The situation in Rafah is dire, with shortages of food, water, and medicine leading to a growing sense of panic among those displaced by war in other parts of Gaza. Crammed into a huge tent city, the nearly 1.5 million Palestinians in Rafah are living in appalling conditions.
As tensions continue to mount, there is an urgent need for international intervention to prevent further escalation and loss of life in this volatile region.