Counter-Terrorism: Israeli Security Fences

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June 10, 2007: Israel has had a great deal of success in keeping terrorists from getting in Israel from Gaza and Jordan. They have done this in Gaza with a concrete wall, sensors, towers with video, night vision and thermal imaging cameras. Anyone trying to cross is shot. While some of those killed are just Palestinians trying to sneak into Israel for non-terrorist purposes, the policy has resulted in only one suicide bomber getting through in over a decade. Two groups of terrorists have gotten through, using tunnels or sheer luck, but got no further because of Israeli troops guarding the fence.

A similar fence is on the Jordanian border, with similar results. In addition, Jordan actively patrols its side of the border, seeking any terrorists, or anyone, trying to cross illegally. In addition, Israel has cleared most Palestinians from the immediate vicinity of the security fence on its side of the border. The only terrorists getting through, and there have been very few, are those who make it past the official crossing sites. Again, Jordanian cooperation has made it very difficult for terrorists to make it through the border controls.

The security systems on the Gaza and Jordanian borders get little notice because they are successful, not very exciting, and thus not news. A similar security fence on the border between the West Bank and Israel made the news because the fence did not follow the pre-1967 border. But the fence along the West Bank, where it was completed, stopped terrorists from crossing.


 

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