World

Aid trucks stranded at Egypt's Gaza border

by 158 | January 29, 2009 at 08:29 pm

41 views | 0 Recommendations | 2 comments

Once more both Hamas

and Israel share the blame

for this delay and they need

to soon sign and keep a long

term truce.

More than two dozen trucks loaded with food, aid and goods intended for the Gaza Strip were stranded on the Egyptian side of the border Thursday, leaving truckers with little to do but sip tea and exude frustration.

The backlog raises questions about a U.N. appeal announced Thursday which calls for $613 million to help Palestinians recover from Israel's three-week offensive in Gaza and whether new aid will have much effect until there is a deal to open the devastated territory's borders.

"The ordinary people here in Gaza are not getting enough help and are not getting it quickly enough," said John Ging, the top U.N. official in Gaza.

He blamed the aid shortage on the lack of access to Gaza and demanded that the border crossings be opened.