Egypt denied building an anti-smuggling underground iron wall on its border with the Gaza Strip, according to Egypt's local Al-Shorouk daily "Egypt is dealing with smuggling seriously and capable of stopping it without this wall," the report quoted a security source as saying.
Earlier, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that Egyptian engineers were carrying out major excavation work at the Gaza border on Wednesday as an anti-smuggling barrier was under construction.
According to Haaretz, the assumed wall will extend 20 to 30 meters underground in a bid to block the smuggling from Egypt to Gaza.
Egypt beefed up security measures along its border with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip to combat smuggling to the Israeli-blockaded enclave.
