Egypt erects a walled enclosure on the border with Gaza in the face of the Israeli military advance. Cairo fears that thousands of Palestinians will be pushed into its territory in an attempt to flee the conflict.
Israel has warned Hamas that if it does not release all the hostages before March 10, it will launch an offensive in Rafah. The UN high commissioner for refugees warned that a forced exodus to Egypt would be "a disaster for Egypt and a disaster for the future of peace." The project seeks to "create a centralized area to limit the infiltration of militants into the Sinai," an Egyptian military source said.