Egypt prevents aid convoy to Gaza

AMMAN, GAZA — European activists have condemned the Egyptian rejection to implement the obtained regulatory approvals in order to reach the Gaza Strip through the Sinai Peninsula.

The General Coordinator of the convoy “right of return”, Kevin Aovindan, stated, in a press conference held in trade unions headquarters in Amman yesterday, that the lack of clarity and the contrast in Egyptian officials’ positions prevented the arrival of the convoy to Gaza through the Egyptian borders.

Aovindan said that the President of the convoy, the British MP George Galloway was in Cairo until May 15, and he left after he had got the Egyptian official approval for the passage of the convoy to the Gaza Strip through Rafah crossing, however Egypt reneged on its approvals.

He added that “the participants in the convoy have spent over 3 weeks in Aqaba to get from the Egyptian authorities the permission to cross into Egypt and then to enter Gaza.

Aovindan said, regarding the aid collected by the convoy, “it will be sent to Gaza through the Jordanian Hashemite Charity Organization in coordination with the Jordanian Professional Associations”.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian government in Gaza has received new commitments from its Egyptian counterpart to allow Qatari fuel to enter the besieged Gaza Strip during the next few days, after contacts between the Palestinian, Qatari, and Egyptian authorities.

The Palestinian foreign minister, Mahmoud Awad, said there are new Egyptian promises to facilitate the passage of Qatari fuel to the only power station in the Gaza Strip, according to Al-Arab newspaper.

The need for the Qatari fuel is increasing these days to operate the power station in Gaza and to alleviate the crisis in the electrical sector for more than four months.

Awad said that the Egyptian government had told them that the full procedures required to start pumping fuel into Gaza are completed, hoping that it will reach Gaza the next few days.

“In the last communications with various parties, we were told that the shipment will arrive in the coming few days,” Awad said, adding that there is no logical reason for the delay.

He called on the Egyptian authorities to press on the occupation to increase the quantity of fuel which will enter daily to Gaza in order not to drag the transport process to operate the power station to relieve the suffering of the Palestinian citizens in Gaza.

The Palestinian foreign minister pointed out that Qatar has borne the full cost of storing and transporting fuel to the Gaza Strip, thanking the Qatari government and the Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani for their support for the Gaza strip and their role in transporting the fuel to Gaza.

Awad has praised the Qatari role in solving crisis in Gaza, stressing that the Palestinian people, who defend the dignity of the ummah, will never forget the Qatari position that was always behind them.