• Most Popular
  • Most Shared

France says Israel blocks water equipment for Gaza

PARIS
Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:40am EST

PARIS (Reuters) - Israel has blocked attempts to get a water purification station into Gaza and the equipment must now be brought back to France, the French Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

World  |  France

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Eric Chevallier said France had complained to Israel about its refusal to let in the equipment and had still not received a satisfactory explanation.

"An important amount of aid was let in (to Gaza), but for reasons which we have difficulty to explain, the water purification could not enter," he told a news conference.

"We have decided to repatriate it."

Chevallier said the equipment was badly needed in Gaza, which is reeling from a 22-day Israeli offensive. Officials had hoped to transport it across the Israel-Gaza border last Sunday but were denied access.

France summoned Israel's ambassador to complain after French diplomats were blocked for hours on the Jewish state's border with the Gaza Strip.

Chevallier said the fate of the water unit was also raised but Israel refused to budge.

"There were a very great number of steps taken at all levels to try to get the water purification station into Gaza," he said.

(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
World
France


More from Reuters

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (C) is surrounded by reporters as she walks towards the U.S. House of Representatives chamber to begin the vote on health care reform on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 21, 2010. REUTERS/Larry Downing

Democrats face dubious voters

Democrats in Congress who passed historic legislation to revamp the healthcare system face a new challenge: convincing voters it's a good deal.  Full Article | Video 

Healthcare reform
A soldier guards hundreds of bags of wheat seed in the isolated district of Nad Ali's district centre in the west of Helmand province, October 17, 2009

Dirty money and Afghan war

As the war in Afghanistan enters its ninth year, the U.S. has finally realized the best way to stop the conflict is to cut the flow of drug money, columnist Bernd Debusmann writes.   Commentary 

    Afghanistan
    An H1N1 flu vaccine inoculation is given at the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania October 28, 2009. REUTERS/Brad Bower

    A new stab at conquering pain

    Millions of people worldwide suffer chronic pain that can last weeks, months or years but relief may be on the way.  Full Article 

      Pharmaceuticals