Seaborne aid convoy to be sent to Gaza

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=122331§ionid=351020202


A new aid convoy is scheduled to be sent to the besieged Gaza strip by sea under the slogan of "Freedom is the Last Port."

The decision was made in meeting held by Turks, Arab and international activists in Istanbul on Friday.

According to the head of the Turkish Relief Foundation (IHH) Bulent Yildrim, a convoy consisting of 20 vessels will leave Turkey next month.

Yildrim further pointed out that the vessels will not stop till they reach Gaza.

The main goal of the convoy to is break the Gaza siege by sea after it was broken by land and to shed light on the importance of putting an end to the Israeli and Egyptian-imposed blockade which has devastated the lives and businesses of Gazans, he went on to say.

The beleaguered territory that is home to 1.5 million people has been under siege by Israel and Egypt for more than 1,000 days.

As Israel and Egypt have all but blocked the flow of people and normal goods across their land borders with Gaza, and Israel has additionally imposed air and sea blockades against the residents.

In an effort to tighten the blockade even further, Egypt is to block the seaborne Gaza-bound supplies by stepping up security measures at its maritime border with Gaza.

In a recent interview with Press TV, Andrew Whitley, director of the New York Representative Office of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) said: "[Gazan businesses] have virtually all collapsed, because there is no money in circulation…. today we probably have 80 percent of the population living below the poverty line."