Region | Palestinian Territories
Blair sister-in-law denied land exit from Gaza
The sister-in-law of former British prime minister Tony Blair, who arrived in Gaza with a boatload of activists protesting an Israeli blockade, said on Tuesday she was stuck there because both Israel and Egypt had denied her entry.
- Agencies
- Published: 08:03 September 3, 2008
Gaza: The sister-in-law of former British prime minister Tony Blair, who arrived in Gaza with a boatload of activists protesting an Israeli blockade, said on Tuesday she was stuck there because both Israel and Egypt had denied her entry.
Lauren Booth, the sister of the Middle East peace envoy's wife Cherie, revealed her predicament as Blair visited the region to further Western-backed efforts to achieve a limited Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
Booth was one of 44 foreign Free Gaza activists who set sail from Cyprus, docking in Gaza last month, and was one of 10 who remained when the others sailed back to Cyprus on Friday.
Israel allowed the activists to dock in Gaza on August 23 despite its blockade of the coastal territory since Hamas Islamists, who oppose Israel's existence, seized control last year.
Booth said she has tried unsuccessfully in the past few days to leave through Gaza's land crossings with Israel and Egypt.
"I tried through the proper channels, through the United Kingdom's embassy, but I was told I was not allowed to come through," she said after trying in vain to enter Israel.
An Israeli Defence Ministry spokesman, Peter Lerner, confirmed Israel had denied Booth entry, saying there was a policy of refusing entry to anyone from Gaza who did not get there via Israel.
"There is no possibility to let in those people who entered by the sea. They cannot enter Israel," Lerner said.
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