Hamas steals blankets, food from U.N. warehouse (click here)
Published: Thursday, February 5, 2009
Hamas steals blankets, food from U.N. warehouse
JERUSALEM — Armed Hamas police broke into a Gaza warehouse packed with U.N. humanitarian supplies and seized thousands of blankets and food packages, officials said Wednesday.
It was a rare public clash between the international agency that feeds much of the territory and the militant group that rules it. And the incident highlighted difficulties facing donors seeking to bypass Hamas while helping Gazans survive and rebuild after Israel’s punishing military operation.
Hamas policemen stormed an aid warehouse in Gaza City Tuesday evening and confiscated 3,500 blankets and over 400 food parcels ready for distribution to 500 families, said United Nations Relief and Works Agency spokesman Christopher Gunness.
Aid trucks stranded at Egypt's Gaza border (click here)
By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU – 6 days ago
RAFAH, Egypt (AP) — 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.
"There are thousands of tons of assistance generously donated, sitting in Egypt, Jordan and also in the ports in Israel," said Ging. "That aid should be right here, right now, helping the people who need it."...
Religious figures and activists wave Palestinian and Lebanese flags aboard the ship with 50 tonnes of medicine, food, toys, books and stationery as they prepare to sail to the Gaza Strip, from the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanon on Tuesday. (Associated Press)
Israel seizes Lebanese ship heading for Gaza (click title to entry - thank you)
Israeli military says a few dozen kilograms of supplies were on board the ship
Last Updated: Thursday, February 5, 2009 2:21 PM ET
Israel is denying allegations that it fired at a Lebanese ship carrying activists and supplies into Gaza after seizing it on Thursday.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday the ship was seized by the navy and escorted into the port city of Ashdod.
Journalists from Arab television stations Al-Jadeed and Al-Jazeera aboard the ship reported that the navy fired shots at the vessel. They alleged that after boarding the ship, the Israelis assaulted its occupants.
Other journalists on the ship said they could not provide any pictures of the incident because the Israelis smashed their equipment.
"They are pointing guns against us — they are kicking us and beating us. They are threatening our lives," Al-Jazeera journalist Salam Khoder reported on the broadcaster's website.
An Israeli army spokesman said warning shots were fired in the air when the ship tried to sail toward the Gaza Strip, said Reuters.
"No gunshots were fired on board during the boarding and capture of the cargo boat," the military said in a statement.
All of the ship's 20 passengers will be taken by land to Lebanon after they are questioned by Israeli officials, said Reuters....
Egypt has officially refused to give an Iranian aid ship permission to dock at Al-Areesh port. (click here)
Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:33:40 GMT
Cairo has officially refused to give an Iranian relief ship permission to unload Gaza-bound humanitarian aid at an Egyptian seaport. After weeks of stalling the Iranian aid ship Shahed some 25 km (15 miles) off the coast of Gaza, the Egyptian government expressed opposition to the emergency delivery through the Al-Areesh port, an informed source said Wednesday. The move dealt a blow to efforts by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) aimed at channeling desperately-needed aid to Gazans, added the source who requested anonymity....
Jan 26, 2009 23:43 Updated Jan 27, 2009 16:11
Cairo intercepts Iranian arms ship (click here)
Israel is closely tracking an Iranian freighter believed to be carrying weaponry for Hamas that is currently docked in the Red Sea outside the Suez Canal, after Egypt refused to permit it to cross the waterway to the Mediterranean.
According to a report received at the Defense Ministry from the Pentagon, the US Navy recently boarded an Iranian vessel that was carrying artillery shells and other weaponry.
"This is a big test for the Egyptians," a senior defense official said. "So far the Egyptians have prevented the ship from crossing the Suez and we hope it will stay that way."
Defense officials said that Iran is trying to supply Hamas with new Grad-model Katyusha rockets and to replace high-grade explosives that were exhausted or destroyed by the IDF during Operation Cast Lead....
Cyprus Silent Over Ship's Suspected Hamas Weapons Cargo (click here)
By SANA ABDALLAH
(Middle East Times, with agency dispatches)
Published: February 03, 2009
AMMAN -- Mystery continues to surround a Cyprus-flagged ship detained at the island's southern Limassol port under Israeli and U.S. suspicion it may be carrying Iranian weapons for the Palestinian Hamas movement in Gaza, underlying the difficulties in stemming arms smuggling to Palestinian groups fighting Israel.
Cyprus acknowledged it had detained a Russian-owned ship last Friday, but has refused to reveal any information to the press regarding reports that it was carrying weapons, insisting that the vessel and its cargo are still under investigation....
U.S. releases Iranian ship said taking arms to Gaza (click here)
By Natasha Mozgovaya
WASHINGTON - The U.S. navy was forced to release an Iranian boat detained in the Red Sea on suspicion of carrying arms to Hamas-ruled Gaza. Weapons of various kinds were found aboard the ship, which was flying the Cypriot flag when it was stopped January 19. The ship was released yesterday when it became apparent that there was no legal basis for holding it....
Mullen: Iranian arms probably were bound for Gaza (click here)
By ANNE GEARAN – Jan 27, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's top military officer said Tuesday the United States did all it could to intercept a suspected arms shipment to Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, but its hands were tied.
Separately, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other U.S. officials said it is too soon to tell whether the prospect of new U.S. engagement with Iran will bear fruit.
Mullen confirmed that a Cypriot-flagged ship intercepted in the Red Sea last week was carrying Iranian arms and that U.S. authorities suspect that the shipment was ultimately bound for the Gaza Strip, where Hamas and Israel are observing a shaky truce after three weeks of fighting....
Egypt Hammers Hizbullah, Hamas, Qatar (click here)
Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit on Wednesday accused Hizbullah and Hamas of trying to "hurl the region into collisions and conflicts to serve Iran's interests."
Abul Gheit also said in a television interview Iran tries to "use its cards to ease the western pressures over its nuclear program."
Egypt, he said, has thwarted Qatar's attempts to sponsor an official Arab Summit Conference at Doha earlier this month.
"Had that summit been convened it would have harmed joint Arab action," he added.
"Some people thought that a television network would be able to topple the state of Egypt … Egypt is a major power and cannot be affected by al-Jazeera or other networks," Abul Gheit stressed.
He criticized Hamas for the coup it carried out against the Palestine National Authority in June 2007.
Beirut, 28 Jan 09, 20:59
A Lebanese ship is escorted by an Israeli naval boat near the port in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009. The Israeli navy on Thursday intercepted a ship delivering 60 tons of supplies from Lebanon to the Gaza Strip and said it was towing the vessel into an Israeli port. The ship set sail from the Lebanese port of Tripoli Tuesday in a bid to defy Israel's blockade of Gaza. Reporters from Arab TV stations Al-Jadeed and Al-Jazeera who were on the vessel said the Israelis fired at the ship before boarding it and beating those on board. The Israeli navy said no gunshots were fired on the ship while it boarded and seized the vessel. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
A Lebanese ship is seen docked next to an Israeli naval ship in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009. The Israeli navy on Thursday intercepted a ship delivering 60 tons of supplies from Lebanon to the Gaza Strip and said it was towing the vessel into an Israeli port. The ship set sail from the Lebanese port of Tripoli Tuesday in a bid to defy Israel's blockade of Gaza. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
