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"We have learned... where there is a fence there are no terror attacks, and where there is no fence, there are terror attacks," said Internal Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi.
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| By israelinsider staff September 1, 2004 |
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In the wake of Tuesday's double suicide bombing attack in Beer Sheva, the government decided on a series of steps to clamp down on Hamas terrorists in the Hebron area. But the main question being asked both by Israeli officials and ordinary citizens is why hasn't the government completed construction of the security fence, which would have prevented the terrorists from infiltrating southwards into the Negev.
Overnight, security forces destroyed the Hebron homes of the two Hamas members who perpetrated the double bus bombings yesterday, murdering 16 Israelis and injuring more than 100 others. Hebron was placed under closure, and restrictions on the local population were re-imposed.
"What we have learned... is that where there is a fence there are no terror attacks, and where there is no fence, there are terror attacks," Internal Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi declared yesterday at the scene of the bombings in Beer Sheva.
Other government ministers called to expedite the construction of the security barrier in the southern sector. According to one report, construction of this section of the fence should be completed in nine months' time, in June 2005.
Channel Two television reported yesterday that construction of the security fence in the south is not being held up by petitions to the High Court of Justice, but rather by insufficient government funding to begin construction there.
According to Ze'ev Schiff, writing today in Haaretz, "The fence route in the south has been decided on, but following the High Court of Justice ruling, the officials in charge started arguing on whether it should be changed. The planned route is not on the Green Line, and penetrates quite deeply into Palestinian territory, more than five kilometers in some places."
In commentary today in the Jerusalem Post, Matthew Gutman writes that "The government has not approved any plan to build a fence south of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc since approving the rest of the fence last October."
"Sadly, this might be the kick in the pants the Defense Ministry needs to get on with business and build the fence. This is not rocket science, and every day the government delays building the fence it wastes lives," head of the Beersheba-area Omer Regional Council head Pini Badash said, according to the Jerusalem Post report.
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