By Staff, News Agencies

The apartheid “Israeli” entity said the work to strengthen its fence along the besieged Gaza Strip entered a new phase with construction starting on a massive new barrier along the frontier.

"Over the weekend we began building the above-ground barrier along the Gaza border," “Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told journalists on Sunday before a weekly Knesset meeting.

The barrier, set to stand six meters off the ground, will be constructed on the pretext of preventing the infiltration of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip into the “Israeli” entity, Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu gave no further details but a defense ministry statement said the work on the structure began on Thursday.

It is set to follow the 65km course of an underground barrier also under construction meant to neutralize the threat of cross-border tunnels built by fighters from Gaza.

At its western end, the statement said, the above-ground barrier would join a fortified sea wall jutting into the Mediterranean aimed at blocking Palestinian operations by water.

The construction of the wall is expected to finish by the end of the year.

"It's massive and especially strong," the ministry said in an accompanying video clip.

Local Palestinian news agency Maan reported on Sunday that “Israeli” forces arrested five Palestinians who crossed the “Israeli” fence in the southern Gaza Strip.

While the entity admitted to arresting the Palestinians and taking them to an unknown area, no further information was provided.

Last November, an “Israeli” Special Forces team infiltrated an area near the southern city of Khan Younis in a civilian vehicle, leading to a shoot-out that resulted in the martyrdom of seven Palestinian and one “Israeli” soldier.