Israel’s defence ministry said Wednesday it had begun demining the border area with Jordan as part of construction works for a new barrier it says aims to stem weapons smuggling.
“A total of approximately 500 old anti-tank mines, which had been laid in the area since the late 1960s, were destroyed,” the ministry said in a statement.
Footage from the ministry showed workers setting up and detonating a linear explosion to take out mines in the Jordan Valley, along an already existing border fence.
In a previous statement, the ministry said the new border barrier would run roughly 500 kilometres (310 miles) from the southern Israeli-annexed Golan Heights to Samar Sands, at Israel’s southern tip.
The first phase of works will focus on the Jordan Valley, including the occupied West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.