Blocked Gaza aid driver set to head home

Published on Friday 22 August 2008 10:58

A DELIVERY driver from Edinburgh who waited at the Gaza border for almost a month in a bid to get much-needed medical supplies into the region is preparing to head home.

Khalil Al Niss hopes a Middle Eastern charity will help him finally deliver his life-saving cargo next week. The supplies were destined for use in the hospitals of Gaza, where there is a severe shortage of basic medical necessities, but Egyptian officials would not allow them into the country.

Mr Al Niss, 49, and partner Linda Willis, 51, from Balerno, set off for the war-torn area last month with a van-load of medical supplies donated by groups across Scotland.

The couple arrived at the Egyptian-controlled border into Gaza on July 21 but were denied permission to enter.

Ms Willis, a practice nurse in Edinburgh, had to return home on July 30 – a week late for work – but Mr Al Niss vowed to make sure the cargo reached its destination.

After nearly a month of waiting at the Rafah crossing, the authorities released his van, which had been locked up by border officials last Friday.

But Mr Al Niss was not allowed to cross the border or even unload the van for another organisation , such as the Egyptian Red Crescent, to deliver on his behalf.

Instead he travelled to Amman, the capital of Jordan, to check the possibility of the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO) taking the supplies into Gaza.

Mr Al Niss says he has "a lot of paperwork" to complete before the medical supplies can be sent to the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

He said: "I hope to sort it out over the weekend and next week we will be handing the supplies over."

JHCO sends regular aid convoys to Palestinians in Gaza and Mr Al Niss hopes the Scottish cargo, which includes much-needed medication for heart conditions and diabetes, as well as syringes, bandages, swabs, antibiotics, blood bottles for taking samples, and more advanced equipment for use in surgery, will be able to be transported over the border at last.

The couple's campaign has gained the support of many Scottish politicians, including First Minister Alex Salmond, who wrote to Egyptian and Israeli ambassadors to ask them to allow the humanitarian aid into Gaza. Edinburgh South MSP Mike Pringle said: "A lot of MSPs were supporting him.

"I'm glad he seems to have found another way of getting the supplies in, but it shouldn't have to come to this."

A delivery driver by trade, Mr Al Niss will return to dealing with business deliveries around the UK when he gets back to Scotland.