Israel to erect wall around illegal Jewish settlements along Gaza fence

Israel has said it will build a large wall stretching 4.6 kilometres around illegal Jewish settlements along the barrier with besieged Gaza. 

In a statement on Thursday, the Defence Ministry said that work on the project, aiming to protect the illegal settlements from anti-tank missiles launched from Gaza, had already started.

Israel says illegal Jewish settlements near the fence with Gaza have been subject to anti-tank missile strikes.

In November 2018, an Israeli military bus that infiltrated Gaza was hit by an anti-tank missile fired by the Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas group, injuring a soldier.

Separately, an Israeli national was killed in May 2019 due to an anti-tank missile.

READ MORE: Palestinians protest Israel's Gaza blockade on 15th anniversary

Collective punishment 

The 2.3 million residents of Gaza live under a crippling Israeli blockade, from land, sea and air, that critics say amounts to collective punishment.

Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza during the 1967 Middle East War. It annexed the entire East Jerusalem city in 1980.

Palestine sees East Jerusalem, along with Gaza, as part of its country with East Jerusalem as the capital.

Under international law, the West Bank and East Jerusalem are "occupied territories" and all Jewish settlement-building activities on the land are illegal.

Palestinians accuse Israel of waging an aggressive campaign to "Judaise" the historic city by effacing its Palestinian Arab and Islamic identity and driving out its Palestinian inhabitants.

Almost 500,000 illegal Israeli settlers live in over 130 settlements dotting the occupied West Bank alongside nearly three million Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation.

READ MORE: 'Trapped': Most Gaza children suffer distress after 15-year Israeli siege