Hamas Refuses Flotilla Aid

The Jerusalem Post reports that Hamas has refused to accept a shipment of humanitarian aid from the Israeli-intercepted Gaza-bound flotilla.

Hamas officials on Wednesday refused to allow into the Gaza Strip 21 truckloads of humanitarian aid that had been offloaded from the Gaza-bound flotilla ships currently docked at Ashdod Port, until “all” of those detained in Monday’s naval raid were released.

The deportation of those detainees – except for those who have refused efforts to return them to their home countries – was in its final stages on Wednesday night, as hundreds of people were flown out of Ben-Gurion Airport to Istanbul, before continuing on to their final destinations.

A senior official from the office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday night that the trucks were waiting to go into Gaza at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, pending approval from Hamas.

“Hamas has refused to allow those trucks to go in,” the official said, “and if the aid is so urgent, my question is, why are they not allowing it into Gaza?”

Click here to read the rest.