Israel-Gaza Border

Where is the Israel-Gaza Border?

The Israel-Gaza border runs the length of the Gaza Strip and has two main crossings - Erez and Kerem Shalom. The Erez crossing provides access both for Palestinians crossing into Israel for work or medical treatment, and the transportation of goods. The Kerem Shalom crossing is exclusively for goods arriving from Egypt.
In the far south of the Strip, which borders Israel and Egypt, is the Rafah crossing,  Whilst this is also controlled by Israel, people but not cargo can pass through.

Plan Your Visit 

• Location: Western Negev, Israel
• Opening Times: By appointment and as part of a guided tour
• Prices: Enquire with our office for the exact cost.
• Average Visit Duration: Both half-day and full-day tours are available.
• Tours: Gaza Envelope Tours are available; however, such visits must be arranged in advance with a licensed company such as ourselves
  

Israel Gaza Wall

The Israel-Gaza Wall, also known as the Israel-Gaza barrier or ‘Iron Fence’ is a border built by Israel that runs the length of the Gaza Strip.  

Fences and walls were originally constructed as far back as 1971 and then 1994 as a means of controlling both the movement of goods and people in and out of the Strip.  Until 2005, there was a one kilometer ‘buffer zone’ on either side but after Israel unilaterally disengaged from Gaza in 2005, a security upgrade was clearly necessary.

Use of State-of-the-Art Technology

In the years that followed, a host of state-of-the-art technologies were installed along the border, combined with the building of a seven meter high fence.  These included motion sensors, watchtowers with cameras and remote-controlled machine guns, which could be used to ‘warn off’ potential infiltrators with bursts of fire, should they come too close.  The wall was patrolled by battalions of soldiers and also from the air.

The eventual cost of this wall/fence amounted to several billion dollars and was described by Israeli security personnel as an ‘effective hermetic solution’ and privately described it as ‘unreachable’.

Hamas Attack on October 7th 2023

On October 7th, which was both the Jewish sabbath and the festival of Sukkot, early in the morning Hamas militants breached the fence in a number of places.  In what is now arguably a catastrophic security failure on the part of Israel, using explosives, bulldozers, pick-up tricks, drones and paragliders.

With the ‘element of surprise’ on their side, Israel was caught off guard and, as a result, thousands of terrorists were able to make their way across the fence towards a number of communities in the area.  

In the hours that followed, a massacre took place in which approx. 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were murdered within a few hours.

Today, the general consensus is that the wall was never designed with the idea of a mass invasion in mind, rather to give ‘real time indications’ when individuals were trying to come close to it.  

Other failures, military personnel have admitted, include an overreliance on remote-controlled aspects of security (such as communication towers, remotely-operated machine guns and surveillance cameras and hubs).  These were disabled by Hamas on 7th October, quickly leaving the wall defenseless and allowing between 2,500-3,000 terrorists to stream through quickly.  

Places To Visit In and Around the Israel-Gaza Wall

• Kibbutz Nahal Oz and Kibbutz Nir Oz - these two kibbutzim both suffered badly in the October 7th attack, where Hamas gunmen went house to house, hunting down residents.  Many individuals were tortured, mutilated andraped, before they were murdered.  Others were kidnapped and some remain hostages in the Strip even now.  Today, it is possible to tour these places and see the horror and destruction first-hand.
• Re’im Forest, site of the Nova Music Festival Massacre - It was here that, on October 7th, Hamas terrorists took the lives of approximately 364 people at a Peace Festival, most of them very young. It is possible to visit memorials to some of the victims at this site.
• Netivot - This is the town where a collection of burned-out and crushed vehicles sit, the result of the October 7th attack.
• Kobi Hill - From this vantage point, it is possible to see over the Gaza Strip.  
• Sderot - This ‘frontier town’ was heavily impacted on October 7th and if you visit, you will be able to see bomb shelters where grenades were thrown, rockets that have since been repurposed (and in some cases even turned into art works) and the police station, which came under heavy attack and in which more than 30 Israelis were trapped inside and killed. 
• Nahal Oz Military Base - Close to, but not part of Kibbutz Nahal Oz, this Israeli military base was also attacked on October 7th, and 66 people lost their lives here.  Whilst it is not possible to enter, you can see the base from the outside.
• Roadside rest stations - These spots offer soldiers in the Israeli Defence Forces a break from the daily difficulties of combat, and also help out by providing them with free meals, showers, and laundry services. They are an excellent place to meet members of the IDF and talk with them openly about what their lives in uniform are really like.  

Nearby Places and Attractions

• Ashkelon national park
• Prime Minister David Ben Gurion’s grave at Sde Boker, Negev desert
• Ein Avdat nature reserve
• Mamshit national park
• Shivta national park
• The Ramon Crater, Mitzpe Ramon