The Egyptian authorities on Saturday prevented 14 Jordanian trade union leaders from entering the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing, according to spokesman of the Trade Unions Council Majdi Semadi, dpa reported.
"Instead, Egyptian policemen told the Jordanian unionists to enter the Palestinian territory from the Erez crossing which is controlled by Israel, an option categorically rejected by the Jordanian delegation," Semadi said.
He said that the team, which represented 14 Jordanian professional organisations with a total membership of 200,000, "were insisting on entering the Gaza Strip from the Rafah crossing, which is controlled by Egypt, and will not change their mind under any circumstances".
The Jordanian delegation, headed by chairman of the Trade Unions Council Ahmad Armouti, left Amman to Cairo on Friday as a follow-up of the Freedom Flotilla mission in breaking the three-year old blockade of the Palestinian territory.
Israeli troops raided the aid fleet in the Mediterranean at the end of May, killing nine activists, whom Israel says were armed.