Peace Malaysia Awaits Green Light To Enter Rafah

From Syed Azwan Syed Ali
CAIRO, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- Peace Malaysia's humanitarian mission to Gaza is still waiting for the green light from the Egyptian authorities to enter Rafah to hand over medical and food aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
Peace Malaysia coordinator Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said the situation in the Gaza-Egyptian border was still tense and the Egyptian authorities had doubled up their security surveillance in the area and towards al-Ariesh and Sinai.
"We are still waiting for the green light from the Egyptian authorities through Dr Salah Al-Khalidi (a representative from the Gaza doctors' association)," Mukhriz told Bernama after handing over food and toys to Palestinian children at the Palestine Hospital here.
The Peace Malaysia team arrived here on Tuesday and had since tried to enter Rafah through various channels but was hampered by the tension in the Gaza-Egyptian border.
Mukhriz said the border in Rafah was closed since two days ago.
At the moment only the Karm Abu Selm border -- a three-way border between Egypt, Gaza and Israel -- was opened but it was under the Israeli control.
Mukhriz said in the event that the team was not allowed into Rafah, the medical and food aid would be handed over to the Palestine Red Cross in Cairo, to be channelled to 198 clinics around Gaza tomorrow.
More than 800,000 Palestinians in Gaza had to rely on foreign aid since the Israeli regime closed all borders in Gaza last June, cutting off food, medical, water and fuel supplies.