MFA Spokesman on Gaza flotilla

IMRA.org.il

Ships forcing their way into Gaza will do nothing to aid the people there.
Existing land crossings are more than capable of meeting their needs.
MFA Spokesman Yigal Palmor 24 May 2010 AText:

Ships forcing their way into Gaza will do nothing to aid the people there.
Existing land crossings are more than capable of meeting their needs.
International aid organizations and the private sector of Gaza ensure that
all the necessary food, medicine and clothing are provided to the Strip via
Israel.

In a typical week, 15,000 tons of supplies enter Gaza. Truckloads of meat,
poultry, fish, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, milk powder, baby food,
wheat and other staples arrive in Gaza on a daily basis. Building materials
are also shipped in, when monitored by International organization so as not
to be commandeered by Hamas for the fortification of bunkers.

Since the ceasefire in January 2009, well over a million tons of
humanitarian supplies entered Gaza from Israel - that is almost a ton of aid
for each man, woman and child in the Strip.

The land crossings remain the most efficient system to transfer goods to
Gaza, and the flotilla organizers are well aware of this fact. The
organizers also know that since December 2008, their ships have been denied
permission to land.

Israel has invited the organizers of the flotilla to use the land crossings,
in the same manner as all the reputable international organizations.

However, they are less interested in bringing in aid than in promoting their
radical agenda, playing into the hands of Hamas provocations. While they
have wrapped themselves in a humanitarian cloak, they are engaging in
political propaganda and not in pro-Palestinian aid.

If the organizers were truly interesting in providing humanitarian aid - as
opposed to engaging in publicity stunts - they would use the proper channels
to ensure delivery of any supplies.