8/20/06

Aid for Gaza Palestinians held up in Israel

Hundreds of containers full of food for Palestinians in Gaza are still being held up in the Israeli port of Ashdod, caused by the recent conflict in Lebanon that closed the port of Haifa, the United Nations said.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reports that nearly 300 containers with emergency food for Gaza are stuck on ships in Ashdod, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

"That backlog is connected to the fact that a lot of these containers had to be redirected there from Haifa, which had been closed due to the fighting. Currently, some 830,000 people rely on UNRWA's Gaza food distributions."

[ArabicNews.com]

No comments: