Hamas prevents flotilla aid from entering Gaza
IDF says that Hamas has refused to allow the aid into Gaza through Israeli-controlled land border crossings.
By DPA Tags: Israel news Gaza flotilla Hamas GazaMore than a week after the Israeli navy forcibly intercepted a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the 10,000-ton cargo of the seven ships has yet to reach Palestinians.
Israel and the radical Islamist Hamas movement in control of Gaza blamed each other Tuesday for the aid not reaching its destination.
Major Guy Inbar, the Israeli military official charged with liaising with Palestinian officials told the German Press Agency dpa that Hamas was refusing to allow the aid in through Israeli-controlled border crossings over land.
He said Israel had already sent eight truckloads of goods, including electric wheelchairs, to its Kerem Shalom crossing with the southern Gaza Strip last Tuesday, a day after the raid on the flotilla in international waters off Gaza. Nine Turkish activists were killed when the interception of the Turkish Mavi Marmara turned violent.
Those goods were still waiting at the Kerem Shalom crossing, while the rest of the aid - including more wheelchairs, cement, medicine and medical equipment, toys and blankets - was still stored in warehouses in the southern Israeli port of Ashdod, Inbar said.
He said Israel was trying to coordinate their transfer into Gaza with the international community and with the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas' rival.
Inbar denied charges by Hamas officials that the transfer of the electric wheelchairs to the Kerem Shalom crossing was a propaganda move and a "deception" because Israel had allegedly removed their batteries.
"The batteries are in the mini-scooters. That's another lie that you heard from the Hamas spokesman," he said.
Hamas' spokesman in Gaza, Fawzi Barhoum, said Israel, which confiscated the goods, should be blamed for setting its terms for their transfer.
"The problem is with the Israeli occupation, which imposes its conditions and mechanisms as it wants, and not as the international organizations want," he said, apparently referring to the Israeli demand that only cement to be used only for specified, supervised projects be allowed into Gaza.
According to Inbar, Israel was willing to allow cement to enter Gaza if used for specific reconstruction projects supervised by international organizations, to ensure it would not be used by Palestinian militants for building fortifications or weapons smuggling tunnels.
He also noted that "a lot of the medicine" included in the aid cargo had already expired between February and November 2009.
"The Red Cross will have to decide whether they will get into the Gaza Strip," he said.
He said Israel was willing to allow also the cement to enter Gaza if used for specific reconstruction projects supervised by international organizations, to ensure it would not be used by Palestinian militants for building fortifications or weapons smuggling tunnels.
He noted that "a lot of the medicine" on board had expiry dates that had already passed, including February 2009, April 2009, May 2009 and November 2009.
"The Red Cross will have to decide whether they will get into the Gaza Strip," he said.
"The one who is rejecting is Israel, not Hamas," Barhoum told dpa, accusing Israel of trying to "to continue misleading world public opinion."
He called on the world "to interfere to end the siege" of Gaza.
 |
Wheelchairs and hospital beds, taken off the Gaza-bound flotilla of ships intercepted in a deadly Israeli navy raid last week, are seen at an IDF base on Monday June 7, 2010. |
| Photo by: AP |
Why Facebook Connect?
Comment on Haaretz.com articles with your Facebook login, and share your thoughts on your own wall.
- Latest
- Most Viewed
- Most Rated
- Open all
THEY DON’D NEED MORE AIDS THAN WHAT ISRAEL ALREADY SENDS TO THEM - SEE FOR YOURSLF http://www.paltoday.ps/arabic/News-64161.html Google translation of the above web-site to English: http://translate.google.com.au/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.paltoday.ps%2Farabic%2FNews-64161.html&sl=ar&tl=en
So now it's revealed that Turkey was trying to poison and expire the Gazan's with expired medicine?
Why doesn't Israel just parachute the aid to the population and forget about coordinating with a terrorist organization?
Why is Israel coordinating the aid distribution anyway? Why not leave it to an impartial international aid organisation? There's a stench of underhandedness here... and it's NOT coming from Hamas!
We were never sending humanitarian aid to Hamas but directly to hospitals and ngo's in Gaza. Israel never delivers the materials it steals from us.
Hamas, Hizbollah, Syria, Iran, etc combined don't even approach that number. In spite of all these civilian killings, Israel has gotten away with it and still screams about those others I mentioned. When in doubt about who the bad guys are and who the propagandists are in the middle east, rely on the numbers and not on the spin.
Get your calculator out because the number will be a lot more than "3000". By the way, some of your "civilians" couldn't pass a swab test for gunpowder on their hands but they would probably pass a test for wearing civilian clothes though, so I guess your count may be somewhat accurate. BTW, nice "civilians" you had on board the Turkish "aid" ship recently. If I was a civilian on a ship and openly carried around chains, knives, slingshots, etc. I'd be tackled to the ground in a flash and have the boots of a security guard pressing down hard on my neck. Your "civilians" however roamed around freely after forcefully confining all the innocents to below deck. Also, your much needed aid supplies that you wanted to see get through to Gaza is insead rotting and collecting dust in Israeli wharehouses because your dumb Hamas heroes have their nose out of joint. You know, Arab pride and all. Now I'm sure you're salivating over Iran's boasts of sending their hyped IRGC-AQ troops to break the blockade but notice your boisterous hero Ahmadinejad isn't volunteering to lead the charge, as he's coming down with mild case of a cold.
How did you get that number? Let's see 300,000 + in Iraq and who knows how many tens of thousands in Afghanistan. Umm.... tens of thousands of Chechens. Umm.... hundrends of Fatah murdered in front of their families by Hamas in Gaza... Umm... should I go on or do you understand the hypocrisy of these numbers. Anyway it can all end tomorrow if they allow Jews to live peacefully. wonder why that won't happen. Thank god you don't live there and don't know who these people are!
Probably the main reason Tali Fahima is now a Muslim.
If you want to talk numbers,lets stick to the 'pal' arithmetics...hamas wants 10thousand of theirs in exchange of 1(ONE) ISRAELI SOLDIER...'pal' "heroic" terrorists murdered hundreds of Israeli civilians exploding buses,in line to the Dolphynarium,in the Spargo pizza parlor,and many more attempts...9 dead terrorists disguized as "humanitarian activists" is nothing,in accordance with your own distorted and sickening "arithmetics"
Media screams about humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the need to lift "blockade" to save the Palestinians from starvation and death. You won't see any of these pictures on TV or in the newspapers. Palestine Today News Agency "Palestine Today": http://www.paltoday.ps/arabic/News-64161.html Google translation of the above web-site to English: http://translate.google.com.au/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.paltoday.ps%2Farabic%2FNews-64161.html&sl=ar&tl=en
nm
Israel should send all the aid to the Kurds...
Why send aid to the Kurds? Just let them have their whey....
Why is that so difficult to comprehend and why do Islamists support Hamas?
Welcome to Gaza reality.
So they have decided that their people should go on a compulsory diet?. i wonder what Abbas and "Fatter" think about this?
Israel has no business blcokading Gaza--it is an illegal act--"Collective Punishment. Hamas is simply saying and correctly so---that they do not want Israel writing their menu for them. Oh and spare me the 10,000rockets speech. Leys focus on the cause not the effect. Really it is. "It.s the Occupation Stupid."
Here we go again. Hamas trying to create another issue. They cut off their nose to spite their face, as the saying goes. Again we have proof there is no real crisis in Gaza just a propaganda machine intent on giving Israel a PR black-eye. If this stuff was so desperately needed Hamas would have gotten it in already. Maybe their kickback scheme isn't big enough for Hamas.
Yet another example of media hypocrisy. If this supplies were really so vital (like the EXPIRED medical supplies) then why is no one whining about Hamas blocking them? I know, because you'd have to admit that the flotilla was never about aid, but about defying Israel and terrorist posing as "humanitarians".
Man, everyone doesn't seem to realize, those WERE "peace" activists. That's the the nature of these types of people. Israel is the bad guy, America is the bad guy, the west is the bad guy, the Soviets were the good guys. That's exactly the same path communism and nazism went down, is it not?
Give Hamas a 48 hour deadline to accept the goods, and if they don't act by then, transfer the goods where they can be used - for example to Israel's southern Bedouin communities or to some of the less affluent Druze or Arab communities in Israel.
,,, Israel also has lots of poor jewish people why not help them too and provide them jobs instead of hiring arabs who later stab us in the back? Want to do mitzvot? start from home.
The truth of the matter is that Gaza did not except the shipment is because they found out what was really on the ship which was really first aid stuff and not bombs and weapons like they wanted.
http://www.terredisrael.com/wordpress/?p=22059
I agree with Hamas 100%. Aid that is designated to Gaza shouls come through a sea port in Gaza and not through Israel. Israel is not Gaza's parent or guardian. Israel has no right to blockade Gaza and Gaza should be allowed to deal with whomever it wishes and receive any aid without any interferance from Israel.
Similarly Israel has all rights to blocade a terrorist entity that openly states its goal is to destroy Israel. Are you really a Moshe from Haifa, or maybe a Mustafa from Ankara?
in a normal situation, i would agree with you. however, time and time again, hamas has shown that they will import weapons to fire at israel. in this case, israel has every right to restrict the flow of goods to prevent more weapons from entering gaza.
No weapons were found on the flotilla. The only weapons were found on Israeli soldiers who stormed the flotilla. A normal situation? You call 60+ years of occupation, torture, deportation and constant bombings by the IDF normal? So far the world has witnessed Israel's power over the Palestinains. Israel's killings of thousands and thousands of Palestinain men, women and children. Israel's torturing and deporting thousands and thousands of Palestinains, no the other way around.
Please go for a short stroll in Gaza and then... well you wont come back. I guess because they love you as much as you love them.
If your people need food, medicine and medical equipment - you take it from wherever you can get it. It doesnt matter if it comes from your own ports or from the enemy's border crossings. Letting your people suffer to make a political point - that should not be tolerable.
Israel had warned the flotilla for 10 days not to come saying they suspected weapons on the ship. No you can't tell me for sure there were no weapons. Now, please tell me one country that wouldn't have done the same thing Israel did if they had given warnings for 10 days and the flotilla still came. I would have been very disappointed in Canada if they hadn't protected their own borders. There is no other country that would not have intercepted the flotilla if they had been warned not to come, no matter what your opinion on the matter is, that's the truth. If you disagree then it is obvious you aren't thinking.
ISRAEL SHOULD TAKE THE WHOLE LOAD OF AID TO SUDAN AND HELP THE CHRISTIANS THERE,THAT ARE MASSACRED FOR YEARS BY THE moslems AND SHOW THED HYPOCRITICAL WORLD WHO ARE THE REAL OPRESSORS AND MURDERERS...WHY DOESN'T THE SORDID u.n. REACT TO THE MASSCRE OF THE CHRISTIANS IN SUDAN???
The U.N. is a P.O.S.
Through its breif existence, Israel is known for its brutality and disdain of the palestinian right to survive. Now PR against Hamas is good too regarding the aid that was brought to the poors of Gaza. Like their friend the Egyptians, they will ask to account even later for their crimes against humanity in palestine and In Gaza too.
If Israel's brutality mached that of any Arab country, there would be no Palestinians.
Hamas has yet again shown that it represents an evil to the palistinians. They must be tossed out of power before any progress can be made for the palistinians.
Send half of it to Cuba and the other half to the starving people of North Korea - as long as you can prevent the leaders from grabbing it. At least send it to countries where people look as if they're starving - and I mean really starving, as opposed to the voluntary starving they do in Hollywood.
Further proof that the flotilla activests wern`t interested in the aid getting to the people who need it. Only self promotion and terrorism.
Quite a cargo for a ship that is configured with state rooms for tourists. The absurdly inflated figure has been repeated so much at this point it has become truth. A small car weighs about a ton. Google "MV Columbo Express" to get an idea of what it takes to move 10,000 tons. Don't be surprised when Hamas or Turkey accuses Israel of stealing the "missing cargo".
with no confrontation, no violence. http://www.uaeinteract.com/docs/UAE_humanitarian_convoy_carries_700_ton_of_aid_into_Gaza_Strip_/41211.htm so big whoop - Egypt offered to let them offload at an Egyptian port also, but as Greta Berlin said "the primary purpose of the flotilla is to break the blockade" - aid or lack of it is just an excuse
It would appear that Hamas refusing this aid is a clear signal that it either does not need it or does not care for their people.
i read the article but i cant find anything showing hamas stopping the shipment. at the same time hamas refusing aid seems not possible because all israel has to do is push the aid to the other side. how could hamas stop that. i dont understand but it seems like this article is propaganda against hams
Looks to me that the proof is in paragraph 3--or maybe you just don't want to see it. What did you want? A signed and sworn affadavit from hamas refusing the shipent?
I am not sure who is lying Hamas or the government. The government has shown that it lies too much. I am not saying Hamas is an honest party, but they could be right that the government is putting conditions that don't make them feel comfortable. I think Hamas should take what they can get, but they want all of it and not have just part of it that Israel wants to give.
If you meant, " Am I my brother's keeper?" The answer is, Yes! Sometimes, you must keep your cousins at arms reach just for safety's sake.
Like Abba Eban used to say,the 'pals" never lose an opportunity to lose an opportunity.Now they are confessing the obvious...The whole circus of humanitarian aid is only a ruse to boost their standing among to Israel haters of the world,and to organize an iranian.turkish/syrian complete takeover of the gaza strip
I would like to know how HAmas knows that Israel "removed the batteries" from the wheelchairs. Perhaps there weren't any in the first place. Israel should issue a public ultimatum to Gazan Leaders that if it doesn't accept delivery within 24 hours the entire content of the aid will be distributed among needy Bedouin/ Arab communities (not Jewish ones, heaven forbid) in Israel. End of story. I
...what else to do with, for instance, a lot of medicine that had expiry dates that had already passed? Typical Turkish help to those they "love".
Good point on that medicine. But why would Gazans have a desperate need for it in the first place? Something to do with that world wide condemned siege?
...for lack of freedom from living under armed, uncultured, organized, youngsters, hungry for power, who lived their entire life under occupation, unlike many older ones who have higher education but are no longer listened at. The young revel in their new authority but have no clear idea where they are going. Religion is not helpful, particularly if it is aggressive. Such people became horrible tyrants, with no brains whatsoever for letting people live a free, normal civilized life. A hopeless situation that is slowly developing all over, in Europe too. That's what armed organized groups can do anywhere - to millions of peaceful but not organized people - terror and tyranny.
I lived in Egypt and spent a lot of time in Israel. I've also worked with the IDF. Israel let's aid that has been inspected enter Gaza. Maybe if the Red Cross or Red Crescent were shot up it'd be a different story, but they weren't and they've had access to Gaza before. These are more perpetuated lies by a fascist government to bring more suffering to their people for the sake of propaganda and is the real travesty. My advice is to stop attacking Israel, become their partner and then Gaza and the West Bank can become the most prosperous Arab areas in the entire Middle East.
colonists, thousands! it is a 'lose-lose situation'. Palestinians can never ever win this. What is Israel prepared to do against those colonists? Can the palestinian police have weapons to do their job? Or will they just be puppets on an Israelian string? With no power at all? While Israel has an enormous amount of weapons EVEN nuclear? Peace????
My advice is to stop attacking Israel, become their partner and then Gaza and the West Bank can become the most prosperous Arab areas in the entire Middle East.
'Maybe if the Red Cross or Red Crescent were shot up it'd be a different story, but they weren't...' During the cast lead operation, the Red Crescent Hospital was bombed with phosphorus and burnt to the ground...you should check your facts before spewing out ignorant comments.
The land belongs to Israel. The grabbers are the arabs, syrians, jordanians, lybians, iranians, hamas, fattah, etc.. These are the trespassers--let them leave and there will be peace!
One day , all animalistic practices, all inhuman judgements, in the guise of self defence or national defence shall cease. Then we shall boast of a civilised world.
And I must say you almost succeeded. You got a lot of us (perpetrators of "animalistic practices, inhuman judgements"), more than six million in fact, but you failed to get us all. If only you could finish the job somehow, then finally you could "boast of a civilized world".
does your comment also include palestinians murdered by their own and the millions of palestinians that live in the same poverty and squalor in arab countries or just those that you can blame on Israel...
All these are a bunch of lies. The flotilla only goal is to open Gaza blockade to Iranian supplying. Gaza is already and will be after the blockade an Iranian stronghold, which means a threat to Egypt and Israel. Lifting up the blockade will trigger the next Gaza war. Another great achievment for the humanitarian NGOs
What happened to cement and iron? Does IDF bring it to Gaza? Or just steal it?
It's a joke that israel still thinks the world is convinced by their rhetoric lies. The entire humanitarian crisis in gaza is as a result of israels collective punishment and in human practices in gaza.
It's a joke that israel still thinks the world is convinced by their rhetoric lies. The entire humanitarian crisis in gaza is as a result of israels collective punishment and in human practices in gaza.
If you read the article instead of just throwing out talking points, you would see that building materials will enter Gaza only under the auspices of an international body in order to ensure that the materials are not used to build up military infrastructure.
too many lies. And unwilling for international investigation.
IDF is always more believable than hamas. This proves that its not about helping the gazans--its about hamas maintianing itself in control of the gazans.
Even with the facts up your nose, you are still blatantly accusing Israel...blind to the truth and the facts, Israel's bashing at its best
I believe IDF over Hamas any day of the week.
It is Hamas who is hindering the delivery of supplies, not Israel. Israel has been sending humanitarian aid into to Gaza for months! If Hamas cared about the people in Gaza, they would be sending supplies through the existing route.
a buntch of lunatic religious.
for brutalities against Fatah, For indiscriminantly launching rockets into Israel. For killing fighting the Egyptian army (and the sniper fire with it). For launching suicide attacks. For attacking non combatants. For the continuation of policies that do significant harm to the Palestinian people. Or for holding a hostage for 3 years without even allowing the Red Cross to see him.
anti-Israeli prejudice and anti-semitism at its best. Long live Israel
Funny that you're claiming someone else to be blind to truth and facts, when it is becoming clear to eveyone who the true liars and deceivers are. Truth bashing at its best!!!
we heard so many lies already from IDF. About the fosfor, about the flotilla, about 'children held up as a shield', about the UN building and scools and ambulances hit, all lies brought up right after the 'incidents'. Later on those things proven to be lies, but at that time the world did not listen anymore. How do we know the truth? only by INTERNATIONAL investigations. Like Goldstone report: a lot of lies were proved then. Since Israel does not allow this, it seems clear that they have a lot of things to hide.
Israel needs to stop its blockade in order to live in peace without those Mickey Mouse Firework called "Rockets”. What does israel expect from Starving the People of Gaza? Israeli leaders are Obsessive-neurotic-paranoid with delusions of grandeur
Once again Tony Silver the great humanitarian gives us his opinion about the Mickey Mouse Rockets fired from Gaza into civilian towns and villages in Israel. Tony how about Dority Binsain (2), Yuval Abebah (4) ,Afik Zagavi (4), Ella Abukasis (17) who were , among others, killed by these fireworks. Now I know Tony you will never debate one of the propaganda points that you so lovingly post almost on a daily basis, most of which are simply cut and pastes from jihadist web sites. Cmon Tony gets some balls and enter into a debate. Alos you have been asked on numerous occasions to post a link to the poor starving people of Gaza. Show us mone picture of a starving child in Gaza. From a non radical anti Israel Islamic web site please. Cmon Tony put your money where your vile anti semetic mouth is.
http://www.paltoday.ps/arabic/News-64161.html
waww I would really love to see these starving pics :))there is no hunger in Gaza don't worry Tony, the only problem is hamas and bs ing antisemites like yourself. I would love to see some supporting evidence to your bs though yes maybe some pics of starving people-but yes not from the jihadists sites pls (they are known to be pretty biased so:))