Egyptian committee to send relief aid to Palestinians

An Egyptian popular committee for solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada has embarked on a fresh campaign that aims at delivering medical and food assistance to the Palestinians via Arish on March 16.

At a press conference at the Press Syndicate premises in Cairo on Wednesday, the committee members pressed Arab governments, the Arab League, the new US Administration and the Red Cross to take prompt measures to lift the siege imposed on the Palestinian people.

They also called for launching, as of Wednesday, a wide-scale campaign condemning Israel's policy of starving the Palestinian people.

The committee members then headed to the UN Office in Cairo to hand in the first batch of signatures collected as part of a one-million-signature campaign for two petitions, one addressed to the UN chief and the other to President Hosni Mubarak.

Meanwhile, 158 people, including Palestinians and other nationalities, crossed Rafah checkpoint to Palestinian territories. Israel still denies access of relief aid to Palestinians.