Gaza incursion halts aid convoy, commerce at Egypt border crossing

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"With jets streaking overhead and explosions thundering in the distance, the Greek surgeon stood Sunday beside a stalled convoy carrying blood bags and syringes, hoping to slip through the black gate at the Egyptian border to reach the wounded in the Gaza Strip.

It was the second straight day that Mouzala Ioannis, five other physicians and a nurse from Doctors of Peace waited at the locked Rafah crossing amid eerie silence. Ioannis blamed the Egyptian government for holding up more than 25 trucks and SUVs filled with medical supplies donated by Greece, Turkey, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

"They lied to us," said Ioannis, leaning on a car as a border guard shuffled near the metal gate. "The Egyptians first told us the Palestinians didn't want our help but that wasn't true because we were talking to the Palestinians. Then they told us it was a matter of national security. But this humanitarian aid needs to get in there now.

"These people need help. When you're dead I can't help you as a doctor."

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