The Palestinian city of Rafah seen through a hole in a wall dividing Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Egypt has kept the Rafah crossing, the sole crossing into Gaza, largely closed since 2013, over disputes with Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza.

What History Teaches Us About Walls

Donald Trump may want to take note: World history is full of examples of engineering thwarted by goal-oriented rank amateurs.

nytimes.com