Experts: Egypt's wall will destroy Gaza's aquifer

Ma'an
Experts in Gaza determined on Sunday that Egypt's underground steel wall will lead to the destruction of Gaza's aquifer, during a symposium entitled The Metal Wall between Egypt and Gaza: Impacts, Environmental and Human Consequences, held in Gaza.....

...the metal wall threatens Gaza's underground water storage system and will cause the destruction of the aquifer, resulting from pollution...

.... could lead to salt water being pumped underground, causing soil to collapse. This Al-Weheidi warned, could lead to the collapse of buildings in Rafah. The tunnels, he said, would contribute to flow of salt water.

.......... "the metal wall, between 20 to 30 meters deep underground, will obstruct the flowing of water in the joint aquifer between Sinai and Gaza, threaten the aquifer which is already suffering from many problems including lack of water, pollution and mismanagement."

.....economist for Al-Azhar University noted that "halting work in the tunnels will prevent the local markets from having access to products that are coming through tunnels, such as supplies of food and construction materials...

"In such a situation, Gaza will have a black market with a lot of goods including necessities with skyrocketing prices and infinite queues."

More than 30,000 workers would lose their jobs, Rajab estimated......  Full story