Two US senators: Israeli inspections and other hurdles are slowing the entry of aid into Gaza

CAIRO, Jan. 07 (YPA) – Two US senators said on Saturday after a visit to Egypt’s Rafah border crossing that Israeli arbitrary inspections of hundreds of truckloads of aid were slowing their delivery to the Gaza Strip.

At Egypt’s Rafah border crossing, lines of hundreds of trucks carrying aid wait for weeks to enter Gaza, and a warehouse is full of goods rejected by Israeli inspectors, everything from water testing equipment to medical kits for delivering babies, Senators Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley aid Saturday after a visit to the border.

They pointed to a cumbersome process that is slowing relief to the Palestinian population in the besieged territory — largely due to Israeli inspections of aid cargos, with seemingly arbitrary rejections of vital humanitarian equipment.

The system to ensure that aid deliveries within Gaza don’t get hit by Israeli forces is “totally broken,” they said.

“What struck me yesterday was the miles of backed-up trucks. We couldn’t count, but there were hundreds,” Merkley said in a briefing with Van Hollen to a group of reporters in Cairo.

E.M