Committee against siege warns of blocking solidarity convoys to Gaza

The government committee against siege has warned that the closure of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt had led to negative impacts on life in the besieged enclave.

The committee said in a press release on Monday that the closure had blocked entry of humanitarian convoys to the Strip.

It said that no aid convoys were allowed into the Strip during September, adding that Miles of Smiles convoy was supposed to arrive in Gaza during the past month but the Egyptian authorities prevented its entry and disallowed entry of aid shipments it was carrying.

For his part, deputy chairman of the committee Ala’uddin Al-Batta said that statistics issued by the committee since June displayed a big reduction in number of solidarity convoys, which led to shortages in medicines, food aid, and relief materials.

He said that closure of the crossing also blocked businessmen and investors from supervising projects they were financing in Gaza, which, coupled with ban on entry of construction material, led to a halt in those projects.

Batta appealed to the world community, the Arab League, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to pressure Egypt into opening the crossing to ward off a humanitarian tragedy.

He also called on human rights groups to assume their roles and protect the Palestinian people from violations of their basic rights.