Satellite Photos Show Egypt Building Wall Near Gaza Strip Ahead of Israel Assault on Rafah

Egypt is building a wall and is levelling land near its border with the Gaza Strip ahead of a planned Israeli offensive targeting the border city of Rafah. The Sinai Foundation for Human Rights video shows a wall being constructed at the border in Rafah. Satellite images analyzed Friday by The Associated Press also show ongoing construction of the wall, trucks and what appear to be precast concrete barriers being set up along the road.

The satellite images, taken Thursday by Maxar Technologies, show construction ongoing on the wall, which sits along the Sheikh Zuweid-Rafah Road some 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) west of the border with Gaza. Those satellite images correspond to features seen in a video by the London-based Sinai Foundation for Human Rights.

The video shows a crane lifting concrete walls into place along the road. The construction “is intended to create a high-security gated and isolated area near the borders with the Gaza Strip, in preparation for the reception of Palestinian refugees in the case of (a) mass exodus,” the foundation said.

Egypt, which has not publicly acknowledged the construction, repeatedly has warned Israel not to forcibly expel the over 1 million Palestinians now displaced in Rafah across the border into its territory while it battles the militant group Hamas for a fifth month. However, the preparations on the Egyptian side of the border in the Sinai Peninsula suggest Cairo is preparing for just that scenario, something that could threaten its 1979 peace deal with Israel that's been a linchpin for regional security. The Egyptian government did not respond to requests for comment Friday from the AP.