Israel drops plan for Gaza moat

Israeli forces regularly attack suspected smuggling networks

Israel has dropped plans to build a moat between Gaza and Egypt in an attempt to hinder weapons smuggling.

A barrier including fences and concrete walls above and below ground will be built instead, military officals say.

Reports said the plan was abandoned when it became clear that the attorney general would probably oppose them.

Israel says it will withdraw settlers and troops from Gaza this year but will keep control of the border, where it says arms smuggling remains a problem.

The 5km (three mile) long moat would have been built along the Philadelphi route - Israel's security buffer between Gaza and Egypt.

Hundreds or even thousands of Palestinian homes might have had to have been demolished to build the 25m (80ft) deep trench.

Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat earlier condemned the plans for the moat, calling them "a catastrophe and a disaster for the Palestinian people".

Militants use tunnels from Egypt to smuggle weapons into Gaza.