In fear of a rise in infiltration attempts by militants along the border with Egypt, the Israeli army recently began constructing a barrier along part of the border near the Gaza Strip, local daily The Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday.

The barrier is being built along a 40-km stretch between the Kerem Shalom Crossing, at the southwest corner of Gaza, and the Israeli border town of Nitzana to the south, said the report.

The over 200-km-long border with Egypt, Israel's most porous frontier, is marked only in certain sections by a regular fence without electronic sensors, it said, adding that the section being sealed off is frequently used by drug smugglers and refugees to enter Israel.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sources said engineering units from the IDF Southern Command's 80th Division have been constructing the barrier, which includes a fence and barbed wire, and reinforcing existing IDF positions in the area since Operation Cast Lead against the Gaza Strip earlier this year.

The unidentified sources said with tightened security along the Gaza border fence, there was concern that Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants would step up their efforts to cross into Egypt's Sinai desert and then traverse the porous border with Israel.

In addition, there has been concern that other militants, including members of Hezbollah cells believed to be in Sinai, would also try to use this section of the frontier to cross into Israel.

"The border with Gaza is basically hermetically sealed," an Israeli defense official was quoted as saying. "That is why we are concerned that the terrorists will try to infiltrate via the Egyptian border."

A fence along the frontier was first proposed after the disengagement from Gaza in the summer of 2005. With Israel out of the area and deployed tightly along the Gaza border, militant groups decided that the only way to attack Israel was by Qassam rockets and by sending militants to Israel via Sinai.

As a result, Israeli security officials began warning of the creation of a "terror triangle" connecting the Gaza Strip, Egypt and Israel.