David Martin and Ian Murray: World must speak out over Gaza's ongoing nightmare

David Martin MEP and Ian Murray MP reveal their first-hand experience of the Middle Eastern crisis

Nine hours after leaving Cairo, we finally arrived at the Rafah crossing to leave Egypt and enter Gaza. A journey that should have taken three hours had been lengthened by the chaotic Cairo traffic and by internal Egyptian security checks, one of which took an hour to negotiate. We were only allowed to leave this control under police escort "for our own security".

When we finally reached the border we were met with the sight of hundreds of men, women and children - some very young, some very old and some very ill - standing in the sweltering heat hoping to be allowed through the gates to their own country. Despite having prior authorisation, there was no guarantee they would get through that day or any other day. Egypt only allows 350 people to pass through on any given day and at this rate it would take 15 years for every Gazan who wishes to cross the frontier to do so.

Where there is desperation, there will always be people to exploit it. As no vehicles are allowed to cross, people were struggling with every imaginable white good. We saw washing machines, electric cookers, microwaves and fridges being hauled to the frontier. Trolleys were available but only Egyptian porters could use them and there was a heavy price to pay to get their assistance.

At the gates, people were throwing their suitcases and bags over the fence on a promise from Egyptian guards that if their cases were with them, and the right money was paid, the individuals would be allowed to follow.

We also met three trucks from Scotland carrying much-needed medical supplies for Palestine. Five trucks had set off but only three made the border and they had been held there for five days.

We tried to help but were told that some of the items were not approved. A Palestinian wearily explained to us there was nothing specific about these items. If they were not among the supplies, some other products would have been picked on. At this point our group of MPs, MEPs, members of the House of Lords and a former MSP had wry thoughts about the statements we had heard from leading Egyptian politicians about their solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Finally, more than three hours after arriving at the crossing, we were allowed through the gates, but this, we realised, was just stage one.

In all, it took nearly six hours before we were able to step on Palestinian soil. If this is how a group of politicians with "privileged access" is treated, it does not take much imagination to visualise the treatment of an ordinary Palestinian with no higher ambition than to enter his or her own country.

Egypt is clearly responding to external pressure. A crossing that does not even have an Israeli presence continues to be Israel's means to harass 1.6 million inhabitants. The United States and Europe also bear responsibility for the situation.

Our understanding of the inhumane and degrading treatment of Gaza had only just begun. Currently, 1.6 million people are living in an open prison camp where an outside force, almost on a whim, takes life and death decisions.

Only five per cent of Gazan water meets acceptable standards. The German government has offered to finance desalination plants, but every time it suggests a suitable location the Israeli government, which proclaims itself in favour of the project, finds an objection to the location.

Fresh food is in short supply and a on a coastal strip one obvious solution is fish, but the Israelis will not allow fishermen to go beyond three nautical miles, allegedly for security reasons. Fish in this Mediterranean strip has become a luxury.

We met businessmen who explained how the blockade of Gaza has destroyed its once flourishing private sector. An industrialist told us how his factory had been flattened by the Israelis with whom he once did nearly all his business. When he asked for an explanation, he was told it was blocking the Israeli Defence Forces' view into Gaza. A furniture maker explained that he was, in theory, still allowed to export to Israel but that he had to prove all parts had been officially imported through Israel. Israel does not allow the importation of screws, so he asked us rhetorically what sort of furniture they thought he might export.

We witnessed the squalid housing many Gazans are forced to live in because the importation of building materials is strictly controlled; we experienced Gaza's unreliable electricity supply and we met many bright youngsters with acceptances for American and European universities that they are unable to take up because they are refused permission by a foreign power to leave their own country.

My saddest and most abiding memory is my visit to Al Shifa Hospital. There, we witnessed dedicated doctors doing magnificent work with limited resources and I met Fidel. He was a bright, articulate eight-year-old boy that any parent would be proud of. Fidel suffers from sickle cell anaemia, the symptoms of which can be managed with the right medicine. That medicine is not available at Al Shifa. Fidel explained to me that if he did not get the medicine he would be very ill, and perhaps die. That medicine is sitting in a Scottish truck at the Rafah crossing.

Fidel might get his medicine through one of the many tunnels running from Egypt into Israel, but he might not. The tunnels and the spirit of the people will ensure that Gaza survives but until the siege is lifted, they will not be able to live with the dignity they are due.

What is going on in Gaza is a disgraceful and shocking collective punishment that the world must speak up against.• David Martin MEP and Ian Murray MP were in Gaza from July 23-26 in a delegation that included Scottish MPs Cathy Jamieson and Sandra Osborne, and former MSP Pauline McNeill