CAIRO: Around 80 tons of medical aid destined for the Gaza Strip have become unusable after being held up at the border with Egypt for more than a year, a security source at the frontier said on Tuesday.
The aid consisted of medicine, powdered baby milk and unspecified medical equipment and had been donated by Tunisia, Yemen and Algeria, the source said. It was now past its use-by date or had been damaged by the desert heat.
The Rafah terminal – Gaza s only door to the outside world that bypasses Israel -has been shut since deadly Palestinian infighting saw Hamas seize the Gaza Strip on June 15.
Since then the already dire humanitarian situation inside the impoverished territory has worsened, with only essential aid being allowed in.
Before the Islamists takeover, Rafah had been closed nearly continuously since June 2006 when Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid that sparked a massive Israeli military offensive.
When open, Rafah is operated in close cooperation by Egypt, European Union monitors, Israel and the Palestinians, and can be closed if any one party refuses to participate.
