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| Israel
prevented aid from reaching desperate Palestinians
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OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, July 4
(IslamOnline & News Agencies) - International relief agencies on
Wednesday, July 3, accused Israel of hindering the delivery of
humanitarian aid to the Palestinians to the point where they can “no
longer adequately” do their job.
Meanwhile, a plane intended to
take South African humanitarian aid to Palestinians was not allowed
into Israel.
Thirty-two relief agencies,
including CARE International, Oxfam and Medecins du Monde, demanded
Israel provide access to aid workers and allow relief to reach people
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
The groups, members of the
Association of International Development Agencies, also asked the
world community to “put pressure on the Israeli government to ensure
humanitarian access is unrestricted as guaranteed under international
law.
“On a daily basis we are
subjected to excessive delays at military checkpoints, inconsistent
and sometimes complete refusal of access to our project sites and
beneficiaries, and harassment and severe restrictions on the movements
of local as well as international staff,” they said in a statement.
“As a result humanitarian
agencies are now often unable to reach the civilian populations in
need of basic assistance, and our capacity to provide sustained and
quality support has been severely undermined,” it said.
In signing the statement, the
groups said they had “now reached a point where we can no longer
adequately fulfill our mandates.”
Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon’s spokesman Ranaan Gissin said Monday, July 1, that Israel
was in contact with aid agencies and donor countries to ensure relief
reaches the Palestinians via Israeli checkpoints rather than through
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s “corrupt” authority.
He did not name the agencies
and countries contacted.
Israeli forces have invaded
seven of the eight major West Bank towns since mid-June, imposing
curfews which on Monday and Wednesday were lifted for a few hours in
some cities to allow people to buy supplies.
Meanwhile, a plane intended to
take South African humanitarian aid to Palestinians was still grounded
in Johannesburg late on Wednesday, an aid official said, calling
Israeli objections political rather than technical.
Imtiaz Soliman, national
coordinator for the charitable organization Gift of the Givers, said:
“We had an excited call from our clearing agent in Israel on
Wednesday saying the political pressure being applied on the
government was paying off.”
“They said the flight could
take off within two or three days,” said Soliman, who arrived home
from Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning.
“We think the flight might
be allowed in at the same time as the curfew in the occupied
territories is relaxed on Saturday,” he added, in reference to
Israeli plans to lighten a curfew imposed in the West Bank after it
reoccupied several West Bank cities.
The 500,000 dollars’ (euros)
worth of aid, which includes food and medical equipment, was meant to
have accompanied South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad on a
visit to the Middle East last week, where he met with Palestinian and
Israeli officials, AFP reported.
The charter was delayed
allegedly because of technical reasons, including under-insurance of
the aged Iluyshin plane and noise levels.
“Whatever the Israeli
authorities say, the delay is a political issue not a technical
one,” Soliman insisted.
“We have complied with every
one of the Israeli requirements, even though this meant spending an
extra 85,000 dollars.
“It will cost us 20,000
dollars more to land the plan in Ovda because the Israelis say it is
too noisy to land at Tel Aviv. It will cost us 65,000 dollars more to
extend the insurance coverage to the 65 million dollars demanded by
the Israelis.
“We have also repacked the
cargo to meet their requirements about dangerous goods, which it
clearly is not.
“We even re-filed the papers
replacing the word ‘Palestine’ as the destination because the
Israelis insist that no such place exists.
“They could have told us all
this weeks ago, but instead chose to be obstructive to make a
political point.
“They have not acted in good
faith.”
