CAIRO: Nine European doctors and nurses refused entry into Gaza at the Rafah border crossing continued their hunger strike for the fourth day.
The medics have been going to the crossing every day – some since May 5, others for 50 days – to see if they will be granetd entry into Gaza. They began a hunger strike on Tuesday and have stayed at the crossing overnight instead of returning to Al-Arish, 40 km away, where they were staying.
The group is comprised of five British, three Belgians and one Greek. British doctor Omar Al-Mankoosh told Daily News Egypt from the crossing, “We are aid workers here for humanitarian work. We are not politicians, even our demonstration here is not a political one, it is a desperate act for people who have come for humanitarian purposes and have been denied entry.
“There is no way of finding out who is responsible for preventing us from going in. No one knows how the process works. There is no excuse, we are doctors and nurses, I cannot see why they won’t let us in, he added.
Al-Mankoosh said that the medics had coordinated with their embassies before coming and that he possessed a letter from the British ambassador in Cairo stating that the embassy had forwarded his details to the Egyptian authorities.
Though the European medics have not been allowed to pass through, the official MENA news agency had reported that nine American doctors had entered Gaza via the Rafah crossing last Thursday.
Additionally, Al-Mankoosh said that two American doctors had also entered Gaza last week within half an hour of appearing at the crossing.
Meanwhile the European “Hope convoy also intended for Gaza is still stranded in Port Said after local security authorities insisted that it amend its route.
The “Hope convoy set off from Italy earlier this month and arrived via cargo ship at Alexandria last Friday. Members of the convoy had planned to complete the route on land to Rafah.
However security forces intervened and forced the convoy to continue to travel by ship to Port Said before making the trip by land to Rafah in Northern Sinai. Currently the convoy members are still in Port Said waiting for the convoy trucks to be transported to them from Alexandria.
Member of the convoy and president of the European campaign to lift the siege on Gaza, Dr Arafat Madi told Daily News Egypt that the convoy intended to head by land towards Rafah early Saturday. The convoy boasts over 100 vehicles including 12 ambulances.
