TEL AVIV, Israel - Israel will fortify a 250-mile fence on its the eastern border with Jordan amid growing concerns about radical militants and unstable regimes in the region. "We must be able to stop the waves of terror that might come from the east," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday. Israel has been on high alert since three teens - including one American - vanished in the occupied West Bank on June 12.
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According to Netanyahu, the fortifications were needed in order to protect Israel from the “forces of radical Islam.” The country has kept a watchful eye on the civil war raging in Syria to the north and the Sinai Peninsula in the south. It has also fought wars against Lebanon’s Shiite militia and political party Hezbollah. As if to underscore these concerns, 16 rockets were launched at Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip overnight, Israel said, the most significant barrage since November 2012. Nobody was injured in the strikes, which prompted retaliatory bombing by the Israelis.
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