RAFAH, (PIC)-- Palestinian officials have affirmed Saturday that tens of tons of Arab and international aid allocated to Gaza Strip were stocked in the Egyptian city of Al-Areesh as Egyptian authorities deliberately delayed transporting that aid to the Gaza people.

The officials also disclosed that the Egyptian authorities allowed only medicine to enter into the Gaza Strip despite the bad need for basic foodstuffs, which is packed and stocked in Egypt for unknown reasons.

Egyptian president Husni Mubarak had earlier affirmed that he will not allow the passage of international aid to the Gazans through the Rafah crossing point, and insisted that the food should pass through Israel, which is now conducting genocide in Gaza.

"We have reliable information that tens of trucks loaded with foodstuff and medicine were awaiting an Egyptian permission to move into the beleaguered Strip for four days now but to no avail", asserted Omar Al-Darbi, a member of the reception committee at the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing point.

He underlined that lack of flour and basic foodstuff pushed the Palestinians to stand in long lines to get a bundle of bread.

He also accused the Egyptian authorities of deliberately stopping the passage of relief assistance to Gaza through Rafah, by stipulating that a certain number of trucks loaded with relief have to be unloaded into Palestinian trucks to be allowed to proceed to Gaza.

"They [Egyptians] are using small trucks in unloading the relief items from the planes although we suggested that they allow us to get in, and to directly unload those stocks before heading to Gaza. They rejected our appeal, and every thing is done manually here, and this could take more time", underscored Darbi, adding that the Egyptians open the Rafah crossing points intermittently and for short period of time.

For his part, Adel Za'arab, the spokesman of the crossing points in the PA government revealed that a number of Arab donors have told them that the Egyptians alleged that they couldn’t allow relief assistance into the Strip because no Palestinians were not available to receive them at the other side of the terminal.

"This is not true as have a committee dedicated to work round-the-clock to receive the aid, adding that the committee comprises representatives from the PA foreign affairs, health, and social welfare ministries in addition to a liaison officer to coordinate with the Egyptians.

Qatar has threatened to take out its humanitarian assistance to the Gaza people if the Egyptians didn’t allow it into the starving Strip immediately. The Qatari volunteers had been waiting for an Egyptian permission to bring the foodstuffs into the Strip and to establish field hospital to treat wounded Palestinians for five days now but the Egyptians refused their request.