Aid convoy to Gaza attacked by Egyptian riot police

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Viva Palestina Convoy Attacked in El-Arish #3

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Last night saw serious clashes as Egyptian riot police used clubs and tear gas to break up protests by international volunteers attempting to deliver medical supplies to Gaza. The 450 participants in the Viva Palestina aid convoy, who come from over 20 countries including the US, UK, Malaysia and Turkey demonstrated after being told by local Egyptian authorities that only 157 peoplewould be allowed to help deliver the medical and humanitarian supplies carried by 200 vehicles to enter Palestinian territory.

In the resulting clashes convoy members posting via Twitter said that several volunteers had been injured by the police and that some had sustained serious head wounds. Iranian based Press TV's correspondent Hannan Ghani travelling with the group also reported that 55 people had been hurt.

Footage captured by Turkish news service Haber7.com also shows convoy members being pelted last night with rocks and stones by Egyptian surrounding the vehicle compound.

The Viva palestina initiative which includes groups from four countries have been trying for over a week to enter Gaza via Egypt. last week the authorities refused permission for the 200 vehicles to enter the country via Jordan and demanded that the convoy be re-routed via Syria to El - Arish on Egypt's Meditteranean coast. Yet even this was fraught with difficulty as Israeli forces declared military naval exercises in the area just ahead of the ferry's departure. Only the last minute intervention of the Turkish navy which escorted the ship to its final destination allowed the aid mission to continue.

The Gaza Strip has been the subject of a year long blockade following the intervention of Israeli forces in the area in December 2008. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called upon Israel to put an end to the blockade of Gaza, stop evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes, and see that the rights of children are respected.