On Wednesday the Ministry of the Interior in the Gaza Strip alongside the Internal Security arm of Hamas began constructing a buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
This is in accordance with the new understandings reached in recent meetings between Hamas leaders and top ranking officials within the Egyptian intelligence community.
Major General Tawfiq Abu Naim, the Deputy Minister of Interior for Gaza, said that his ministry began to "remove all the obstacles, including trees, water wells, and sand dunes that pose difficulties to keeping the border under control."
The Hamas plan is to level the terrain near the border and build an earth levee to separate the last houses in the Palestinian side of Rafah - the city also has an Egyptian side - from the new buffer zone. Following that, observation towers will be erected and monitoring cameras will survey the border crossing.
Major General Naim pointed out that the communication with the Egyptian side is ongoing and that the zone might increase in scope if that is deemed necessary.