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Thursday, July 24, 2014
Egypt allows aid convoy to proceed towards Gaza with 2 of 12

Egypt allows aid convoy to proceed towards Gaza
Most of convoy's volunteers sent back by authorities, but two persons will =

continue Friday to Rafah border to deliver over LE2 million in medicine
Mariam Rizk, Thursday 24 Jul 2014
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/107015/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-a=
llows-aid-convoy-to-proceed-towards-Gaza.aspx

An Egyptian popular aid convoy bound for Gaza has reached Al-Arish and =

will continue to the Rafah border crossing on Friday with plans to deliver =

medicine to the besieged Palestinian enclave, members of the convoy told =

Ahram Online.

Activists are set to deliver LE2.3 million worth of medical aid to Gaza fro=
m =

gathered donations.

One of the volunteers, Zizo Abdu, told Ahram Online that only two people =

were allowed to stay with the loaded vehicles, while the other 10 were sent =

back.

The convoy passed Qantara crossing on the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya as =

well as Balooza checkpoint in northern Sinai and entered the border town of =

Al-Arish, said Tamer Qenawi, one of the two activists allowed to accompany =

the convoy.

He said an armoured police vehicle escorted them to Al-Arish's security =

headquarters, where the convoy will spend the night before they head to the =

Rafah border crossing in northern Sinai on Friday morning.

"We thank God that after a lot of complications and problems, things were =

sorted out in the past couple of hours," Qenawi told Ahram Online.

He said the 12 people in the convoy had obtained permission from the =

Egyptian ministries of foreign affairs and health as well as the general =

intelligence.

But permission from the military intelligence was also needed for them to =

complete the trip =96 which authorities hadn't mentioned before they set of=
f =

from Cairo on Thursday morning, he said.

Only Qenawi =96 the representative pharmacist from the Popular Campaign to =

Support the Palestinian Uprising =96 and the deputy head of the Doctors =

Syndicate were allowed to stay with the convoy overnight.

"The priority is to deliver the medication and donations with which =

Egyptians have entrusted us to the people of Gaza," Qenawi said.

Volunteers plan to deliver the medical supplies to the Palestinian Red =

Crescent, which will distribute the aid to hospitals in Gaza.

Over 800 Palestinians have been killed and 4,000 others injured since Israe=
l =

launched an offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on 8 July.

A ground offensive that started a week ago increased losses on the =

Palestinian side, killing and wounding hundreds of children and women in =

raids that have also targeted hospitals and schools.

Israel has so far lost 32 soldiers and three civilians.

A similar Egyptian convoy of 11 buses and 550 activists was stopped at a =

military checkpoint on the route to Gaza on Saturday and was sent back. The =

military security concerns for the safety of the convoy.

Egypt's authorities sent 500 tonnes of food and medical supplies as =

humanitarian aid to Gaza soon after the Israeli offensive started.

The government also opened the Rafah border crossing, the only non-Israeli =

passage to Gaza, for wounded Palestinians to be treated in Egyptian =

hospitals. =

________________________________________
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rab-Israeli relations

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