Israel to build underground barrier around Gaza

Israel is to begin building a subterranean barrier around the blockaded Gaza Strip, according to Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon.

The barrier would stop those Yaalon called "terrorists" using underground tunnels to enter Israel.

"The Israeli army will begin building an underground barrier, in addition to a security fence, around the Gaza Strip," Yaalon was quoted as saying by Israeli public radio.

The Israeli defence ministry announced last month that it had constructed a "smart" security fence around 12 Israeli communities near the border with Gaza.

Hamas' armed wing used tunnels to attack Israeli targets near the Gaza border during last year's devastating war on the besieged coastal Strip.

The Qassam Brigades used tunnels on four occasions to kill 12 Israeli soldiers, reported the Israeli army.

The Egyptian army has also constructed a water canal to flood and destroy smuggling tunnels built along the border between Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt's government decided to create a buffer zone along its border with the Gaza Strip to destroy the cross-border network of tunnels.

Cairo accuses Islamist militants of using smuggling tunnels to move between Sinai and Gaza, which is ruled by the Palestinian group Hamas.

The Egyptian government has been battling a long-running insurgency in Sinai, which escalated after the military ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013 amid massive protests against his rule, and subsequently cracked down on Islamic groups.