The pasta was allowed into Gaza only after the new secretary of state pressured Israel to stop mounting difficulties on the Palestinian population.
Democratic Senator John Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, returned from his trip to the Middle East completely shocked. Kerry, who ran against George W. Bush in the previous presidential election and lost due to fraudulent poll tallies in Florida, visited Israel, the Gaza Strip and Damascus.
In Gaza, he was amazed to discover Israel will not even allow pasta noodles through the security checkpoints. A truck with pasta products was stopped at the checkpoint and not allowed into the strip as humanitarian aid given to the local population.
Senator Kerry reported back with harsh impressions of Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians, leading to an unequivocal demand made by Hillary Clinton after which Ehud Barack, Tzipi Livni and Ehud Olmert decided to allow the truck through.
Shoes, clothes and diapers are only a few of the other essential products still restricted from entering the strip as part of the pressure being put on Hamas to negotiate the return of Gilad Shalit, the kidnapped Israeli soldier, which is not in accordance with the prisoner exchange list demanded by Hamas.
Clinton is arriving on her first Middle East visit next week. She will take part in an international donor conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where two billion dollars will be raised to help Palestinians in reconstruction efforts following the latest Israeli operation in Gaza.
Clinton expressed outrage at the restriction of humanitarian aid into Gaza and made it clear to the heads of state in Jerusalem that this conduct is intolerable and in defiance of international law.
In Jerusalem, concerns have been raised that the United States will put pressure on Israel to open the passages, contrary to the government’s decision to maintain the blockade in hopes that it will achieve the release of Gilad Shalit on more favorable conditions.
The European Union also condemned Israel’s policy, which has faced great difficulty in providing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Ministry of Defense said in response that contrary to the European Union’s reports, 116,400 tons of humanitarian aid were allowed into the Gaza Strip at the request of international organizations and the private sector since the ceasefire was declared on January 18th. Therefore, any claims of short food supplies in the Gaza strip are groundless.
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