...

Gaza-bound convoy halted in India

Arab World Materials 5 December 2010 08:49 (UTC +04:00)

Authorities in India have refused to allow Asia's first humanitarian aid convoy for the besieged Gaza Strip to enter Pakistan, organizers say, Press TV reported.

Organizers of the Asia Solidarity Caravan say they had reached an agreement with Indian authorities to head for Pakistan.

The group says Indian authorities have been under political pressure to cancel the humanitarian trip.

"We thought the Indian government has a stated policy of support to the Palestinian people. But such unresponsiveness makes us have serious doubts," Press Trust of India quoted an Indian peace activist as saying.

A group of 50 pro-Palestinian activists are taking part in the road trip from New Delhi to Gaza.

The group intended to deliver medical supplies to the 1.5 million Palestinians under an Israeli blockade.

The group says it will travel through at least seven countries before entering Gaza in late December. The convoy was scheduled to pass through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, entering Gaza through the Rafah Crossing.

"More than 50 Indians are part of the journey. We will travel by road through Asia and hopefully get to Gaza by December 28," Indian Express quoted founder of Asia Solidarity Caravan Feroze Mithiborwala on Thursday as saying.

Veteran journalist Kuldip Nayyar and former cabinet secretary Zafar Saifullah are among the Indian activists.

Some 40 percent of the 1.5 million impoverished people of Gaza are jobless as Israel imposed the siege on the sliver since June 2007.

Earlier this week, the United Nations expressed concern that more than 80 percent of the population in Gaza depend on relief supplies for their survival.

Latest

Latest