Israel has completed construction of an anti-tunnel barrier around the Gaza Strip, Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced Tuesday afternoon.
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The barrier took four years of work and $1.1 billion to build, and features sections both above and below ground.
With the massive 32.8-foot-high barrier that stretches across 40 miles, Israel hopes to end the threat of cross-border attack tunnels from the Palestinian coastal enclave.
"This barrier, a creative, technological project of the first order, denies Hamas one of the capabilities that it tried to develop and puts a wall of iron, sensors and concrete between it and the residents of the south," Gantz said at a ceremony.
"Daily routine is our victory, and it is the terrorist groups' biggest enemy. We'll keep preparing to neutralize every capability of attacking the citizens of Israel, with an emphasis on the threat of rockets, which is in our sights. We will prevent the flow of Iranian technology and knowledge into Gaza, and will continue to thwart any attempt by Hamas to activate its satellites in Judea and Samaria or Israel – attempts that have repeatedly failed," he said.
Gantz also warned that Israel could be seeing a "calm before the storm," following recent threats from Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups, which criticize "the slowness of the reconstruction of Gaza."
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi called the new barrier "part of Israel's defense philosophy of an 'iron wall' on land, in the air, at sea, and in general."
According to Kochavi, the barrier "represents outside-the-box thinking and expresses the kind of thinking to which we in the IDF are committed. The barrier changes the reality – what used to be will no longer exist. This might be a quiet period, but looking back at the last few months shows us that we responded heavily to even 'minor' violations, and will do so in future. We're upgrading our defense, but we remember that victory is secured through offense, and we are strengthening our offensive capabilities constantly and significantly."
Kochavi thanked all the prime ministers, defense ministers, and IDF commanders who "turned this vision into a reality," noting in particular former Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. (res.) Gadi Eizenkot, the heads of the IDF's Southern Command, and the Gaza Division.
Since Operation Guardian of the Walls in May, Israel and Hamas have been negotiating an extended ceasefire, which would see additional aid and international assistance flowing into Gaza in exchange for calm.
However, Israel conditioned the complete reconstruction of Gaza on the return of the remains of two Israeli civilians and two fallen IDF soldiers held by Hamas.
For its part, the terrorist group has insisted that it will not release them as long as Israel refuses to release a large number of Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons.
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