maandag 25 juni 2007

Israël levert via kleine grensovergangen voedsel en medicijnen aan Gazastrook

Volgens de nieuwste plannen van de Israëlische autoriteiten wordt, via twee kleinere grensovergangen, dagelijks 3000 ton aan voedsel en medicijnen in Gaza binnengelaten. Deze hoeveelheid is in overleg met humanitaire organanisaties vastgesteld en kan worden gehoogd:

De grensovergangen blijven gesloten voor export vanuit de Gazastrook, zowel om veiligheidsredenen als ook als onderdeel van de boycot door Israël van de Hamas-regering in Gaza.

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Israel to use small crossings to get aid to Gaza
24 Jun 2007 15:51:08 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Adam Entous
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L24648535.htm

JERUSALEM, June 24 (Reuters) - Israel will use two small border passages, not the main Karni crossing that is Gaza's economic lifeline, to bring in basic supplies, officials said on Sunday, citing security concerns with Hamas in control of the territory.

The Israeli officials said their plans would allow around 3,000 tonnes of emergency food and medicine to enter the Gaza Strip through two small
border passages five days per week.

Israel believes this amount, even without reopening Karni, will be enough to avert a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished coastal strip.

Some aid groups said the plan may head off a food shortage, but cautioned that the closure of Karni would cripple the moribund Gaza economy. Karni is the only functioning passage for Palestinian exports from the territory, which is home to 1.5 million people.

Israel wants to isolate Hamas economically, diplomatically and militarily in the Gaza Strip, where the Islamist group seized control more than a week ago, while allowing funds and goods to flow to President Mahmoud Abbas's emergency administration in the occupied West Bank.

Worried Gazans have been stocking up on essentials, fearing the border crossings with Israel will remain shut.

The vast concrete and steel border post at Karni, Gaza's entry and exit point for virtually all goods, was a centrepiece of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's efforts to revive the long-stalled peace process after Israel pulled out of the strip two years ago.

Citing security concerns and Israel's policy of boycotting Hamas, an official with Israel's Airports Authority, which oversees the crossings, said, "We don't see any reason at the moment to open Karni".

Instead, the official said, Israel plans to use the much smaller Kerem Shalom and Sufa crossings, both under direct Israeli control.

Under the Israeli aid plan, 3,000 tonnes of food and medicine -- the equivalent of some 50 trucks carrying two loads each -- will enter through Kerem Shalom and Sufa every Sunday to Thursday. On Fridays, 1,500 tonnes of supplies will cross into Gaza through Kerem Shalom.

"That's what we, together with the international organisations, understand the Gaza Strip needs. In case they need more, we will transfer more," the Airport Authority official said.

Shlomo Dror, spokesman for Israel's coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said the Israeli plan, once fully implemented, will "mean we are far from a humanitarian crisis."

Israel will not deal with Hamas directly because the group has refused to recognise Israel, renounce violence and abide by interim peace deals with the Jewish state.

Israel controls the land crossings between Gaza and Israel, as well as Gaza's air space and territorial waters. Israel does not allow the crossing of people or goods by sea or air.

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