Syrian aid convoy arrives in Gaza

Syrian Medical Aid Arrives in Gaza
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)

Date: Sep 24, 2010

Gaza, (SANA)-The medical aid, medicine and milk offered by the Syrian people to the Palestinians in Gaza arrived in the Strip on Thursday.

The 45-ton aid shipment is intended to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza as a result of the Israeli siege on the Strip. The delegation accompanying the ship handed over the aid to the Palestinian Red Crescent which in turn delivered it to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The delegation accompanying the ship consists of representatives of the Teachers' Syndicate, Artists' Union, The Women's Union, the Syrian Red Crescent Organization, the Syndicates of the Engineers, Lawyers, Doctors and Dentists, the Revolution Youth Union, General Trade Union and a media delegation.

In a statement to SANA, Prime Minister of the relieved Palestinian government Ismail Haniyeh said that the diversity of the Syrian delegation accompanying the aid ship affirms the firm and deep-rooted Syrian national stance towards the Palestinian cause.

Haniyeh saluted on behalf of the Palestinian people and the relieved Palestinian government President Bashar al-Assad, the leadership and people of Syria, and the Palestinian refugees in Syria who await their return to their lands.

He valued the visit of the delegation and the support it relays from the Syrian people to the people of Gaza who still live under siege and daily Israeli threats, lauding the firm and principal Syrian stance in support of Arab rights and just and comprehensive peace.

During his meeting with the Syrian delegation, Haniyeh affirmed that the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip are committed to their land and their resilience in the face of the Israeli unjust siege and threats, stressing that just and comprehensive peace cannot be achieved without the return of all Arab lands and occupied lands to their rightful owners, particularly the Syrian Golan, the Palestinian territories, and the remaining parts of southern Lebanon.

For his part, head of the Syrian delegation, head of the Teachers' Syndicate Ziad Mohsen affirmed Syria's support of the Palestinian people in restoring their rights and establishing an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Mohsen stressed Syria's commitment under the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad to providing all types of aid to the people of the besieged Strip in order to alleviate the suffering they experience.

In a statement to SANA, Director General of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza Strip Khaled Joudeh said that the Syrian aid that was delivered contains most of the needs of Gaza's hospitals which suffer a critical lack of medicine and equipment, lauding the remarkable support provided by Syria under the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad.

The remaining 605-ton food and relief aid carried by the ship is to arrive later in coordination between the Syrian Red Crescent and the Egyptian Red Crescent. The ship finished unloading the 650-ton aid on Wednesday at al-Arish port, coming from Tartous port.


PressTV - Syrian aid convoy arrives in Gaza.flv:

"Palgaz | September 25, 2010



In other News from Gaza:
Israeli tank fire kills Palestinian
Sat Sep 25, 2010 5:23PM

A Palestinian man has died of his injuries sustained during an Israeli attack which took place near a village in the northern Gaza Strip, a report says.

The military wing of the Islamic resistance movement of Hamas, al-Qassam brigades, reported the death of the victim named Mahmud al-Ahmarine on Saturday, according to AFP

Israeli tanks had opened fire on the 21-year-old and two of his fellow Gazans near the village of Juhr al-Dik located in east of the Gaza City earlier in the month.

Tel Aviv orders regular deadly forays into Gaza under a pretext of surveillance. This is while the coastal sliver is still far from recovering from the Israeli war at the turn of 2009 which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians.

Gaza's 1.5 million residents have also been living under three years of an all-out Israeli siege, which has deprived them of food, fuel and other basic life necessities.

Blackouts to resume in Gaza as fuel runs out
Date: 25/09/2010

GAZA (Ma’an) – Gaza Strip’s only power station stopped one of its generators on Saturday morning due to fuel shortages as crossing terminals into the Strip remain closed for a third day in a row.

According to the Gaza Energy Authority's spokesman Jamal Dardasawi, the plant is down to one generator, though it has three which are in operating condition.

Dardasawi said the shortage was a direct result of the crossings closure, noting the terminals closed on Thursday morning as Jewish people in Israel began observing the Sukkot holiday.

By Saturday afternoon, electricity supplies across central Gaza are expected to be reduced to a few hours in rolling blackouts. Dardasawi said the blackouts would continue until fuel was delivered on Sunday when crossings were expected to re-open.

The latest set of blackouts come despite labored coordination efforts between the Palestinian Authority and the GEA, disputes between which were the source of at least three periods of power cuts in Gaza.

Disputes began shortly after January when the European Union handed over control of fuel deliveries to Gaza to the PA, which said it was struggling to make the payment for the fuel, blaming the GEA for failing to collect some $2 billion in bills due from Gaza residents.

Rounds of blackouts continued until mid-summer, when bill payments began coming from the GEA, and disappeared when the PA began deducting payments automatically from all of the estimated 50,000 PA civil servants in the coastal enclave.

Complaints ensued when employees who were not behind on bill payments also had the standard sum of 170 shekels ($46) deducted from paychecks.

During his announcement that blackouts were expected on Saturday, Dardasawi also said that public sector employees who had money taken from their paycheck unnecessarily could go to the head office of GEA and fill out forms for a reimbursement.

Israel kills fisherman in Gaza
Friday Sep 24, 2010 5:23PM

The Israeli Navy has shot and killed a Palestinian fisherman off the coast of the Gaza Strip currently under a crippling naval blockade.


The victim identified as Mohammed Bakr died by a bullet shot in the sea north of the Gaza Strip, head of the Palestinian territory's emergency services, Adham Abu Selmiya, told AFP on Friday.

An Israeli military spokeswoman claimed the Palestinian fisherman was in restricted waters "heading towards Israel."

The coastal enclave has been under siege since June 2007. Israeli Navy vessels regularly open fire on Palestinian fishing boats to prevent them from venturing more than a few kilometers from the shore.

The 1.5 million impoverished people of Gaza are in dire need of supplies due to the blockade. Fishing remains a staple source of livelihood for the besieged people.


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