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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| UNRWA suspends aid to Gaza after Hamas again seizes supplies |
| 2009-02-09 |
| UNRWA informed the IDF on Friday it is suspending humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip after Hamas stole supplies it had transferred to the Palestinian territory. The seizure of 200 tons of supplies, included flour and other staples, took place on Thursday night. In response, UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency) officials informed the IDF's Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration that it was suspending the deliveries until further notice. The transfer of 40 truckloads of humanitarian supplies - some 800 tons - planned for Sunday has already been canceled. Officials in Jerusalem said the announcement by UNRWA constituted UN agreement with Israel's position that Hamas was using the Palestinian population in Gaza "cruelly and cynically" and was solely responsible for the hardships there. Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog, who was appointed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the end of Operation Cast Lead to coordinate Israel's humanitarian efforts in Gaza, said that theft of humanitarian aid exposed the true face of Hamas and of its supporters in Iran. It was the second time this past week that Hamas stole UN supplies meant for impoverished Gazans. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 Can't plastic bags be recycled and used again? |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2009-02-09 17:24 |
| #5 Looks like all is forgiven... The United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, has announced that it will resume its operations in the Gaza Strip. The announcement follows the return of aid supplies seized by Hamas militants last week. On 3 and 5 February, Hamas militants seized several hundred tonnes of food supplies and 3,500 blankets at gunpoint. Hamas says the supplies were taken 'by mistake'. UNRWA distributes food to 900,000 of the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million residents. Yep, Ye Olde Mistaken Hyjacking at Gunpoint. But now, let's get back to blaming the Jooos... UN officials on Monday implored Israel anew to allow urgently needed aid supplies, including plastic bags and human rights textbooks, to enter the Gaza Strip. Mmmmmmmmmm... a heaping helping of human rights textbooks. "It is absolutely crucial that Israel allow the crossings to be opened and also expand the list of items that go in," Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN special representative for children and armed conflict, told reporters following her recent, four-day visit to Gaza, the West Bank and southern Israel. "At the moment less than 200 (aid) trucks are going through (the crossing points into Gaza)," she said. "We need at least 400 just for the humanitarian needs and over 1,000 once reconstruction begins. " Meanwhile, UN spokeswoman Michele Montas told a press briefing that food distribution to 900,000 Palestinians by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) "continues to be jeopardized by Israel's refusal to let materials for plastic bags into Gaza." "We run out of plastic bags to distribute the food," John Ging, the UNRWA director of operations in Gaza, said in a video link from the impoverished Palestinian enclave. He said UNRWA was now forced to get the plastic from the local market, a process which he described as "unreliable" and "very expensive." "But we have to somehow keep going until sense prevails and they (the Israelis) allow to bring in the plastic pallets to make the plastic bags, with 900,000 people queueing up for food at UNRWA," Ging added. The UNRWA official expressed exasperation over this closure policy, which he noted was also "obstructing the teaching of human rights" in UNRWA schools. Yes, and you've done such a great job at that too... Ging said that since Gaza students returned to school on January 24 in the wake of the 22-day Israeli military onslaught on Gaza, "we have as yet been unable to get in the paper we need to print the human rights textbooks and the other textbooks." Oh, I'd just love to see one of those textbooks... "These are practical consequences of these flawed, failing and failed policies and they have to be changed urgently," he fumed. Oooooh, he's "fuming". Must be those UN beans... "We continue to appeal for common sense to prevail and for priority to be given to the needs, first and foremost, of the children and then the rest of the population." Yep, as always, it's "for the children"... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-02-09 16:40 |
| #4 I think Israel has a squadron of C-130 aircraft. Offer to supply Gaza by air. Just fly over and dump the stuff out. So what if it's still on the pallets - that'll just make the landing "softer". |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2009-02-09 12:55 |
| #3 You know you're seriously messed up when even the UN won't help. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2009-02-09 11:54 |
| #2 But, but, but, but won't this cause a humanitarian crisis? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-02-09 11:21 |
| #1 Aww, now what's got the UN's panties in a knot? I'm sure Hamas is just going to do the distribution work for them after all. |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-02-09 02:05 |