World | Egypt Egypt Builds Steel Barrier to Stop Gaza Smugglers Wall along border will extend 100 feet down to block tunnels By Kevin Spak Posted Dec 9, 2009 7:48 AM CST Copied A Palestinian smuggler works in a tunnel in the Rafah refugee camp, in the southern Gaza Strip, on the border with Egypt, Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) Egypt has begun work on a gigantic steel wall that will run along and under its border with the Gaza Strip in an effort to curb smuggling. The 6-mile wall will extend up to 100 feet underground, in an effort to close off the tunnels smugglers often use to avoid checkpoints. Authorities say the wall will be impossible to cut or melt. The tunnels have undermined Israel’s efforts to cut off supplies to the Strip. It’s such a well-established network that the tunnel operators have connected water and electricity lines through them. Hamas taxes all goods that move through the tunnels, and ensures that no children work in them. Read These Next North Carolina shooting suspect once walked the red carpet. Tossed beers, hostile fans take the spotlight at Ryder Cup. Skydivers leap from plane 2 minutes before fatal crash. 'We heard a big bang,' says churchgoer in Michigan Report an error