Algerian and Jordanian aid convoys reach Gaza
Medical supplies and equipment worth $2.5m allowed to enter area through Egypt’s Rafah crossing.
Aid convoys from Algeria and Jordan have crossed into Gaza from Egypt with $2.5m worth of supplies, Palestinian officials said.
Alaa el-Batta, a government official, told a news conference at the Rafah border crossing that a 14-member Algerian delegation brought medicines and medical equipment worth $2m.
The supplies were for the opening of an Algerian-sponsored hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis.
“We brought 253 kinds of medicine and 144 medical devices,” said Sheikh Yahya Sarri, leader of the Algerian team, according to the AFP news agency.
Kifah al-Amaryah, heading a Jordanian “Miles of Smiles” convoy, said his 20-strong team, delivering aid worth $500,000 would follow up on more than 100 aid projects and launch a new vocational training scheme, also in Khan Younis.
The Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only border not controlled by Israel, has been mainly closed by Egyptian authorities since a military coup in Egypt last July.
Egypt only opens the crossing for humanitarian and other special cases.
Israel, which severely restricts access to and from Gaza after Hamas won legislative elections in 2006, strictly controls the movement of goods and individuals across its land border with Gaza.