From Eirigi.Org: There were jubilant scenes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night [January 6] as the Viva Palestina international aid convoy finally crossed into the Palestinian city of Rafah after spending over a moth on the road.
There was universal relief among the 500 convoy members that they had reached their destination, especially in light of a brutal attack on participants by Egyptian riot police the previous evening.
That night [January 5], around 2,000 riot police attacked the compound where the Viva Palestina vehicles and participants were situated, after the Egyptian negotiator walked away from talks with convoy leaders on their journey through the country and into Rafah.
The riot police also used water cannons and tear gas, as well as throwing rocks and stones, and were joined by local thugs in their attack. As things calmed down, dozens of convoy members had been injured and another dozen had been arrested.
The following morning though they got into their vehicles and finally left Al-Arish for the 40-mile journey to the Gaza Strip. As part of the negotiations Egypt refused to allow 59 of the vehicles, a quarter of the entire convoy, to travel. Egyptian authorities had hoped to hand the vehicles over to the Israeli state, but instead they will be driven back to Syria and Lebanon, and will be donated to the local Palestinian refugee camps.
The convoy was due to arrive in Gaza on December 27, the first anniversary of the assault launched by Israeli forces on the Gaza Strip that left over 1,400 people dead. As Viva Palestina members and Palestinians remembered that assault, Israeli TV was reporting that its military was drilling in the Negev desert in preparation for another offensive against Gaza.
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