Egyptian MP resigns in protest of steel wall

An Egyptian lawmaker has resigned in protest of parliament’s agreement with the government to build a steel wall on the border with the Gaza Strip.

Talaat Sadat, a member of the Parliament Committee on Defense and National Security, told Al-Jazeera that the Egyptian government’s decision to construct the wall is illegal, because the parliament committee is responsible for deciding on such issues.

The independent lawmaker, a nephew of the late President Anwar Sadat, said that the parliament speaker has ignored the body’s responsibilities by siding with the government.

Sadat stated that lawmakers who oppose the decision of the Egyptian government and parliament believe that Cairo should respect its legal, political and ethical responsibilities towards 1.5 million Palestinian people who are in dire conditions.

The wall will be 10-11 kilometers (6-7 miles) long and will extend 18 meters below the surface, blocking the tunnels that Gazans use to bring food and fuel into the coastal sliver. The sliver has long been under an Israeli siege.

US army engineers have designed the wall and the US is supporting Egypt’s construction of the wall, the BBC reported.