Akashma Online News

Posted by Marivel Guzman

Posted on 08/01/2011 in News

Gaza – Special InfoPal. Last night, the humanitarian convoy “Miles of Smiles 4” is entered in the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.

The convoy of humanitarian mission was organized by the Arab world and by some European countries.

35 persons on board some buses and 20 ambulances.

A board of eight trucks, large stocks of medicines have been made in the Palestinian territory that Israel fold from five years with an illegal siege.

Its members were originally 50, but to arrive in Gaza have been 35. The rest of the mission, the Egyptian authorities have denied entry.

To welcome members of the Miles of Smiles some members of government.
Many residents of Gaza Strip gathered at Rafah crossing to welcome the convoy with signs of joy on their faces.

Local sources confirmed that 35 solidarity activists from Bahrain, Spain, and Britain participated in the humanitarian convoy carrying 30 tons of medicines and medical equipments.

Jaber al-Arab, chairman of the Egyptian Red Crescent in North Sinai, said that the cargo of the convoy will be distributed to different Gaza hospitals and medical units.

It’s noteworthy that Gaza hospitals are facing critical conditions due to acute shortages in medicine and fuel that have affected the lives of hundreds of patients in desperate need for medical treatment.

The organizers said in a press release on Tuesday that contacts were ongoing with the Egyptian authorities on the participants and their number in addition to the aid material in addition to the date of entering Gaza and the period they would stay there.

The idea of organizing a fourth Miles of Smiles aid convoy was crystallized during the third convoy’s presence in Gaza last June.

The organizers said that the convoy was meant to meet the urgent need for medicine and medicated milk for babies in the besieged Strip, the shortage of which was threatening the lives of thousands of civilians especially infants.

The convoy contains medicine, medical equipment, wheel chairs, and ambulances, the official said. Over 60 Arab and European activists from different countries are said to be traveling with the convoy, a move in solidarity with the 1.6 million Palestinians in Gaza who are living under Israel’s blockade.

The name of the convoy originates from traveling thousands of miles in order to put a smile on the faces of Gaza children.

A flotilla of ships that was set to sail at the end of June and was prepared to dock at the Gaza Port and unload dozens of tons of aid, bypassing Israel’s blockade was stopped by the Greek authorities, all the efforts and the money collected thru donations were lost in Greek Ports. But the people of the world do not stop in their efforts to brake this illegal siege that has been kept since 2007.

In May 2010, the Freedom Flotilla attempted the mission, but was stopped in international waters by Israeli naval boats. Israeli commandos boarded the largest of the boats in the flotilla, which resisted a take over. The commandos killed nine passengers before gaining control of the vessel, detaining the passengers and seizing the cargo.