Israel to build wall along border with Jordan

Israel has approved building a 30 kilometre wall along its eastern border with Jordan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

Netanyahu said the new barrier was a continuation of the one built along the Egyptian border, which "blocked the entry of illegal migrants into Israel and the various terrorist movements".

Netanyahu also referred to a "steel fence" that runs along the Syrian frontier through the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, built after the Syrian civil war broke out.

The new wall has been accepted by the government's security cabinet.

It is to be built along Israel's eastern border between Eilat and where a new Timna airport will be built, a statement read.

Work has already begun on the new airport north of Eilat, the southernmost Israeli resort city located across the Jordanian border from the port city of Aqaba.

Netanyahu's office said that Israel was in contact with Jordan over the fence, which will be built solely on Israeli soil.

Israel also has a wall that runs through the occupied West Bank, which it began building during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, which lasted from 2000-2005.