The head of Hamas political bureau, Khaled Meshaal, says the construction of an enormous metal barrier by Egypt equals a new war against Gazans.

In a statement televised by Al-Quds satellite channel, Meshaal echoed remarks made by United Nations Relief and Works Agency Commissioner-General Karen Abu Zaid, describing the wall as more dangerous than the Bar Lev Line.

Israel built the Bar Lev Line along the eastern coast of the Suez Canal after it captured the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt during the 1967 Six-Day War.

Khaled Meshaal said “the victory of Gaza did not appeal to those who wagered on the defeat of the resistance and there is a desire to tighten the screws on the resistance which shows fortitude in the face of the occupation.”

The Damascus-based Hamas leader underlined that despite all these efforts resistance will continue in the coastal enclave .

In a related incident, hundreds of people gathered on the Palestinian side of Gaza’s southern border with Egypt on Monday, protesting the underground barrier Egypt is building.

The demonstrators chanted slogans calling for a lift of an Israeli blockade imposed more than two years ago and urged Egypt to stop building the steel wall.

The wall would curb a network of underground tunnels the Palestinians use to bring in their basic necessities that Israel does not allow into Gaza markets.

Receiving full cooperation of the Egyptian authorities, Israel has long imposed a complete siege on the already impoverished Gaza Strip, causing a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian sliver.

The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli siege ever since Hamas resistance movement, which does not recognize Israel, won Parliamentary elections in 2007.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, a right to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.

(Press TV)