-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TROUBLE IN THE HOLY LAND Israel creating 'remote control' border Star Wars-like system will identify, kill terrorists
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: June 19, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern
An army think tank has been working on a new border design to cut down on the number of troops deployed at the Gaza border after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral withdrawal plan takes effect next year, said the official yesterday.
The group, working with Israel's high-tech sector, has put together a computerized observation system that will identify "hostile elements" for the IDF, and upon human authorization, will fire deep into Gaza. The system itself will recommend the most appropriate weapon to use to hit a specific target.
The technology was secretly built years ago by Israeli firms, and is now in the testing and approval stages.
In addition, the army is testing unmanned patrol cars that can identify and defuse explosives by remote control. Currently, the IDF uses robots to defuse bombs that already have been identified by other means.
While Israel is developing these high-tech defense strategies, it also is putting to use a centuries-old tactic to defend its border.
As WND reported Thursday, the Jewish State is constructing an 80-foot-deep moat, possibly to be filled with water, between Egypt and Gaza as a way to block Palestinian terrorists from constructing arms smuggling tunnels. The moat would be deep enough to block terrorists from digging tunnels underneath it.
The army has said it found and destroyed more than 80 tunnels in the past three years, and Israel has voiced fears the Palestinians are seeking to bring in longer-range mortars and Katyusha rockets that could be fired from open spaces at communities deeper inside Israel.
