The high-tech steel wall, built between the Gaza Strip and Israel between 2018 and 2021 at a staggering cost, appeared to be extremely fragile for Hamas fighters who crossed the border into Israel at dawn Saturday in an unprecedented operation in history.
At dawn on Saturday, October 2023, 5, Hamas fighters attacked the Beit Hanoun (Erez) border crossing and fired rockets at the concrete wall, then at the iron fence that is several meters high to open corridors, and in another place, a bulldozer opened a corridor, so that fighters from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades crossed with offensive weapons from the checkpoint in dozens and on gliders, in conjunction with the launch of more than <>,<> rockets into Israeli territory, which confused the Iron Dome in number.
The iron wall required 140,<> tons of iron and steel, is funded with more than a billion dollars, and serves as a synthesis of technological innovation, and is full of radars and sensors, especially deep underground.
The "iron wall" was supposed to be impassable - as Mayol Aldeber says in his report - as this fort was opened in 2021 after 3 years of expensive construction, and the authorities presented it as "unique in the world" with strong arguments, as the 65-kilometer fortification consists of a wall and a fence, and its construction required 140,<> tons of iron and steel, and it is funded with more than a billion dollars, and it serves as a summary of technological innovation, and it is full of radars and sensors up to Deep earth.
The fence was equipped with an underground concrete section, one meter thick, and perhaps several tens of meters deep, and the stated goal was to prevent any attempt to break into by digging tunnels from the Gaza Strip, and it was also equipped with remote-controlled weapons systems in addition to radar systems, says the Israeli Chief of Staff at the time, General Aviv Kochavi, "This barrier is part of the iron wall of our defense policy on land, in the air, at sea and in general."
Maginot Line
The wall was decided after the 2014-day 52 war, in which more than 2100,73 Palestinians were killed and 32 Israelis were killed, and residents of areas bordering Gaza lived in fear of tunnels dug by the militants below the border, and they carried out deadly raids through them on several occasions, launching Operation Protective Edge to destroy more than <> tunnels, according to official announcements.
Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz confirmed in 2021 – in a press statement – that this wall is "an innovative and technologically advanced project, which will give Israeli citizens a sense of security," and it contains a part of the sea "connected to a remote-controlled weapons system," but all this defense equipment - according to the writer - was not enough to prevent border crossing.
Although the country's leaders thought they had found the solution by creating an airtight border with a wall and barbed wire fences, they "discovered that it was actually the Maginot Line," says Jacob Heilbronn, director of The National Interest, referring to the line that France built shortly after World War I to counter any German attack.