Wednesday, 06 January 2010 17:27
Egyptian security forces and Palestinians clashed at the Gaza border over the delay of an international aid convoy.
Egyptian security forces and Palestinians clashed at the Gaza border on Wednesday over the delay of an international aid convoy, killing one Egyptian border guard and wounding 15 Palestinians.
The Egyptian state news agency said Palestinians shot and killed the 21-year-old border guard who was in an observation tower overlooking the frontier. Nine other guards were injured by the stones thrown across the border by hundreds of Palestinians.
Hamas had called for a protest earlier over the delay of an international aid convoy at the nearby Egyptian port city of El-Arish, but soon lost control of the situation as hundreds of youths began hurling rocks across the border at the guards.
Hamas police fired shots to disperse the crowd and shots were also heard from the Egyptian side the border. The director of a local hospital, Dr. Abdullah Shahateh said they treated 12 people, two in a serious condition. There were three other wounded in another hospital.
The incident follows a late night clash between international aid Gaza activists and Egyptian security at El-Arish when Egypt refused to allow part of the convoy to enter its territory and move on to Gaza.
More than 50 activists and over a dozen members of the security forces were injured. Activists briefly seized some policemen as well.
The clashes add to the embarrassment of Egypt, which has come under fire from Arab and Muslim groups for cooperating with Israel in its 28-month blockade of the impoverished territory.
Egypt also began constructing an underground metal barrier along its border with Gaza late last year.
Showing posts with label Viva Palestina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Viva Palestina. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Turkey steps in after Egypt police attack Gaza aid activists
Wednesday, 06 January 2010 11:37
Turkey stepped in after Egyptian security forces clashed on Wednesday with members of an international aid convoy trying to take relief supplies to Palestinians in the Gaza strip.
A Reuters correspondent in the port city of Arish, 40 km (25 miles) from Egypt's border with Gaza, saw security forces throwing stones at about 520 people travelling with the convoy.
The protestors were holding four members of the Arish harbour police while security forces detained seven members of the convoy, who have been locked in a dispute with Egyptian authorities over the route of the 198 trucks.
Witnesses told Bernama news agency, the incident was provoked by agents provocateurs of the Egyptian government.
Police used water cannon to force the protestors to leave Arish harbour, a security source said. Around 40 members of the convoy had minor injuries while around 15 police officials were hurt, witnesses said.
Cairo insists the food and other supplies should go to Gaza via an Israeli-controlled checkpoint while the convoy's leaders want to use the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing.
Egyptian authorities wanted 55 of the trucks to go to the Israeli checkpoint, said George Galloway, the British MP.
"We refused this," he told Reuters TV. "It is completely unconscionable that 25 percent of our convoy should go to Israel and never arrive in Gaza. Because nothing that ever goes to Israel, ever arrives in Gaza."
Bernama report quoted Galloway as saying there are negotiations at the highest level by Turkish authorities with the Egyptian government including for the release of all those detained.
Meanwhile, Turkish media said, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu held three separate phone conversations with his Egyptian counterpart to ease the tension at Al Arish port.
Following the Mr. Davutoğlu's initiations to settle down the issue, the clashes stopped, state TV said.
As well as Turkish deputies as Husnu Tuna, Cemal Yılmaz Demir, Mehmet Nil Hidir, Seracettin Karayagız, the Chairman of the Turkish Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Murat Mercan is also with members of Viva Palestina convoy.
According to a statement issued by the Turkish Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Mercan would accompany a convoy carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza between January 4 and 6. Mercan is planned to hold official talks while in Gaza, Anadolu news agency said.
Alhamy Aref, a local government official in North Sinai, was trying to negotiate a deal between the two sides on releasing the detained people, the Reuters correspondent reported.
Leaders of the convoy originally refused Egypt's condition that the aid should be shipped via Arish on the Mediterranean rather than via the Red Sea port of Nuweiba. But they later had to return to Arish on Thursday, a long way to Gaza.
Related news reports:
Viva Palestina activists face 2,000 riot police as Egypt seize passports
Turkish MPs to enter Gaza with Viva Palestina convoy in Egypt / PHOTO
Viva Palestina convoy onboard Gulf-funded ship heads to Egypt / PHOTO
Turkish ship to carry Viva Palestina convoy to Egypt
Turkey stepped in after Egyptian security forces clashed on Wednesday with members of an international aid convoy trying to take relief supplies to Palestinians in the Gaza strip.
A Reuters correspondent in the port city of Arish, 40 km (25 miles) from Egypt's border with Gaza, saw security forces throwing stones at about 520 people travelling with the convoy.
The protestors were holding four members of the Arish harbour police while security forces detained seven members of the convoy, who have been locked in a dispute with Egyptian authorities over the route of the 198 trucks.
Witnesses told Bernama news agency, the incident was provoked by agents provocateurs of the Egyptian government.
Police used water cannon to force the protestors to leave Arish harbour, a security source said. Around 40 members of the convoy had minor injuries while around 15 police officials were hurt, witnesses said.
Cairo insists the food and other supplies should go to Gaza via an Israeli-controlled checkpoint while the convoy's leaders want to use the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing.
Egyptian authorities wanted 55 of the trucks to go to the Israeli checkpoint, said George Galloway, the British MP.
"We refused this," he told Reuters TV. "It is completely unconscionable that 25 percent of our convoy should go to Israel and never arrive in Gaza. Because nothing that ever goes to Israel, ever arrives in Gaza."
Bernama report quoted Galloway as saying there are negotiations at the highest level by Turkish authorities with the Egyptian government including for the release of all those detained.
Meanwhile, Turkish media said, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu held three separate phone conversations with his Egyptian counterpart to ease the tension at Al Arish port.
Following the Mr. Davutoğlu's initiations to settle down the issue, the clashes stopped, state TV said.
As well as Turkish deputies as Husnu Tuna, Cemal Yılmaz Demir, Mehmet Nil Hidir, Seracettin Karayagız, the Chairman of the Turkish Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Murat Mercan is also with members of Viva Palestina convoy.
According to a statement issued by the Turkish Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, Mercan would accompany a convoy carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza between January 4 and 6. Mercan is planned to hold official talks while in Gaza, Anadolu news agency said.
Alhamy Aref, a local government official in North Sinai, was trying to negotiate a deal between the two sides on releasing the detained people, the Reuters correspondent reported.
Leaders of the convoy originally refused Egypt's condition that the aid should be shipped via Arish on the Mediterranean rather than via the Red Sea port of Nuweiba. But they later had to return to Arish on Thursday, a long way to Gaza.
Related news reports:
Viva Palestina activists face 2,000 riot police as Egypt seize passports
Turkish MPs to enter Gaza with Viva Palestina convoy in Egypt / PHOTO
Viva Palestina convoy onboard Gulf-funded ship heads to Egypt / PHOTO
Turkish ship to carry Viva Palestina convoy to Egypt
Jordanians call on Egypt to honor Muslim obligation over Gaza
Dozens of Jordanians on Sunday gathered near the Egyptian embassy in Amman to protest Egypt's plan to construct an iron wall on Gaza border that has been already under years of Israel siege.
Monday, 04 January 2010 14:29
World Bulletin / News Desk
Dozens of Jordanians on Sunday gathered near the Egyptian embassy in Amman to protest Egypt's plan to construct an iron wall on Gaza border that has been already under years of Israel siege.
Protesters urged Egypt to stop building the wall, calling for popular pressure on Cairo to end its siege on the coastal enclave, Jordanian newspaper reported.
"Stop building the wall of shame," read one poster.
They said "Egypt must act within its moral obligation to the Arab and Muslim worlds by helping Gazans cope with their situation".
Cairo has also come under increasing criticism for refusal to let Viva Palestina aid convoy enter through the Nuweiba port on the Red Sea en route to Gaza.
The convoy was forced to make a debut to El Arish port on the Mediterranean Sea, an extra 20-hour trip.
The Viva Palestina convoy which started its journey on December 16, onboard a ship, sponsored by a Gulf businessman, arrived in Egyptian port on Monday one-week later after the date that they initially hoped to reach Gaza Strip on the first anniversary of Israel's 22-day offensive.
Israel killed nearly 1500 Palestinians and more than 5000 Gazans in the offensive.
1.5 million Gazans live under heavy Israel siege and Egypt still insists on not to opening the only Gaza border crossing in a move condemned around the world in protests, leaving Gazans desperate to digging tunnels underground and risking their lives since 2007.
A group of international lawyers and human rights activists accuse Israel of committing "genocide" through its crippling blockade of the Strip.
Monday, 04 January 2010 14:29
World Bulletin / News Desk
Dozens of Jordanians on Sunday gathered near the Egyptian embassy in Amman to protest Egypt's plan to construct an iron wall on Gaza border that has been already under years of Israel siege.
Protesters urged Egypt to stop building the wall, calling for popular pressure on Cairo to end its siege on the coastal enclave, Jordanian newspaper reported.
"Stop building the wall of shame," read one poster.
They said "Egypt must act within its moral obligation to the Arab and Muslim worlds by helping Gazans cope with their situation".
Cairo has also come under increasing criticism for refusal to let Viva Palestina aid convoy enter through the Nuweiba port on the Red Sea en route to Gaza.
The convoy was forced to make a debut to El Arish port on the Mediterranean Sea, an extra 20-hour trip.
The Viva Palestina convoy which started its journey on December 16, onboard a ship, sponsored by a Gulf businessman, arrived in Egyptian port on Monday one-week later after the date that they initially hoped to reach Gaza Strip on the first anniversary of Israel's 22-day offensive.
Israel killed nearly 1500 Palestinians and more than 5000 Gazans in the offensive.
1.5 million Gazans live under heavy Israel siege and Egypt still insists on not to opening the only Gaza border crossing in a move condemned around the world in protests, leaving Gazans desperate to digging tunnels underground and risking their lives since 2007.
A group of international lawyers and human rights activists accuse Israel of committing "genocide" through its crippling blockade of the Strip.
Jordan's Islamists condemn Egyptian "assault" on aid convoy to Gaza
20:57, January 06, 2010
Jordan's Islamic Action Front (IAF) on Wednesday condemned Egypt's alleged assault on members of the Viva Palestina humanitarian convoy in the Egyptian port of El Arish.
"The attack by the Egyptian authorities on the Viva Palestina convoy late Tuesday is heinous and cruel. We condemn the assault on the convoy members who seek to break the siege imposed on Gaza and such behaviors do not reflect the history of Egypt," the IAF, the political arm of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, said in a statement posted on its website.
Several media reports claimed that Egyptian forces assaulted members of the convoy late Tuesday after they staged a sit-in protesting Egypt's refusal to allow all the trucks escorting the convoy to head to Gaza.
Activists accompanying the convoy confirmed the assault. "Many of us were beaten up by the Egyptian forces on Tuesday night. The Egyptian security members used water cannons and tear gas bombs to disperse the activists who staged the sit-in Tuesday night, calling for allowing all trucks to head to Gaza," Ali Abu Al Sukkar, member of the convoy's coordination committee, told Xinhua from El Arish port.
"Over 30 of the participants in the caravan were seriously injured and many of them were taken to hospitals for treatment and some others were treated by physicians accompanying the convoy," said Abu Al Sukkar, claiming that convoy members "slept in the streets by the port" on Tuesday evening.
The convoy, which is accompanied by over 450 activists from the United States, Britain, Turkey, Malaysia, Jordan and other nationalities, includes over 200 trucks laden with humanitarian assistance to be given to the Palestinians in Gaza Strip.
The convoy, which started its trip on Dec. 6 of 2009 from London and has crossed several European countries including France, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Italy as well as Turkey, Syria and Jordan, was planning to enter the coastal enclave on Dec. 27, 2009.
But the Egyptian authorities' refusal to allow the convoy enter through the Nuweiba port on the Red Sea en route to Gaza, forced the convoy to head back late in December to Syria from where it later headed to El Arish port on the Mediterranean.
Source: Xinhua
Jordan's Islamic Action Front (IAF) on Wednesday condemned Egypt's alleged assault on members of the Viva Palestina humanitarian convoy in the Egyptian port of El Arish.
"The attack by the Egyptian authorities on the Viva Palestina convoy late Tuesday is heinous and cruel. We condemn the assault on the convoy members who seek to break the siege imposed on Gaza and such behaviors do not reflect the history of Egypt," the IAF, the political arm of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, said in a statement posted on its website.
Several media reports claimed that Egyptian forces assaulted members of the convoy late Tuesday after they staged a sit-in protesting Egypt's refusal to allow all the trucks escorting the convoy to head to Gaza.
Activists accompanying the convoy confirmed the assault. "Many of us were beaten up by the Egyptian forces on Tuesday night. The Egyptian security members used water cannons and tear gas bombs to disperse the activists who staged the sit-in Tuesday night, calling for allowing all trucks to head to Gaza," Ali Abu Al Sukkar, member of the convoy's coordination committee, told Xinhua from El Arish port.
"Over 30 of the participants in the caravan were seriously injured and many of them were taken to hospitals for treatment and some others were treated by physicians accompanying the convoy," said Abu Al Sukkar, claiming that convoy members "slept in the streets by the port" on Tuesday evening.
The convoy, which is accompanied by over 450 activists from the United States, Britain, Turkey, Malaysia, Jordan and other nationalities, includes over 200 trucks laden with humanitarian assistance to be given to the Palestinians in Gaza Strip.
The convoy, which started its trip on Dec. 6 of 2009 from London and has crossed several European countries including France, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Italy as well as Turkey, Syria and Jordan, was planning to enter the coastal enclave on Dec. 27, 2009.
But the Egyptian authorities' refusal to allow the convoy enter through the Nuweiba port on the Red Sea en route to Gaza, forced the convoy to head back late in December to Syria from where it later headed to El Arish port on the Mediterranean.
Source: Xinhua
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