Archive for the ‘flotilla’ tag
Egypt breaks its own Gaza blockade
Story published June 3, 2010 by GlobalPost:
RAFAH, Egypt — Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a target of public outrage following the deadly weekend raid by Israeli commandos on a Turkish-led aid flotilla, kept the Rafah border crossing with Gaza open Thursday to people and supplies.
Since the May 31 raid, international pressure has mounted on Israel and Egypt to ease the three-year blockade on the Gaza Strip, prompting Cairo’s move Tuesday to open the border to Palestinians seeking medical treatment.
High-ranking security officials inside the Rafah border terminal said that more than 500 Palestinians had been allowed to enter Egypt on Wednesday.
The land and sea blockade on Gaza was imposed by Israel in 2007, after the violent takeover of the strip from the Palestinian Authority by Hamas, an Islamic resistance group that had once vowed to “wipe Israel off the map.”
For its part, Egypt has also largely kept the Rafah border crossing sealed, except for the most serious humanitarian cases.
