Israel aims to begin building new $1.4b border barrier with Jordan within months

Israel intends to begin building a long-promised new fence along the border with Jordan in June, The Times of Israel reported.

The work is expected to take three years.

The fence will run from Hamat Gader at the southern edge of the Golan Heights to the Ramon International Airport north of Eilat, according to the report.

A 30-kilometer (18-mile) portion of the border with Jordan, from Eilat to Ramon Airport, was already upgraded in a similar fashion to Israel’s border barriers with Egypt and the Gaza Strip in the 2010s.

The new fence will cost $1.4 billion.

Israel also has plans to develop new towns along the border. The fence is intended to stop frequent gun- and drug-smuggling