Egypt: No more aid convoys through Rafah
Published yesterday (updated) 09/01/2010 18:30
www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=252930

Bethlehem – Ma'an/Agencies - Egyptian authorities will set a new mechanism
for shipping international aid to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,
following anger over recent aid convoys for Gaza, Egyptian Foreign Minister
Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit told Egyptian news sources Friday.

The new mechanism requires all aid for delivery to the Gaza Strip to be
handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent at the Al-Arish terminal. The aid
will be processed by the Red Crescent and handed over to the Palestinian Red
Crescent in Gaza following an inventory, Abu Al-Gheit explained in the
Egyptian paper Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat.

The decision came after riots broke out at the Rafah border when a convoy of
international activists staged a demonstration calling on Egyptian officials
to open the Gaza border and allow 500 Gaza supporters and 220 vans of aid
into the besieged Strip. The demonstration, joined by Hamas supporters on
the Gaza side of the border, broke out into violence and lead to the
shooting death of an Egyptian soldier.

Egyptian security forces in Cairo struggled earlier in the week with a
second delegation of internationals who arrived in Cairo hoping to carry out
a Freedom March in Gaza on New Years Eve. The more than 1,300 supporters
were denied entry into Gaza, and a series of protests organized in Egypt
were quashed. Egyptian law prohibits public gatherings of more than six
people.

Egypt's foreign minister commented to the press, saying the issue of the
Palestinian question is more than aid and crossings, particularly at Rafah.
He said the issue was much larger, noting the inter-Palestinian rivalry
between Hamas and Fatah, and was being trivialized by recent events.