U.S. officials intend on continuing pressuring Israel to improve aid shipments and living conditions in the Gaza Strip. Along with the type of aid permitted into Gaza, U.S. officials criticized the number of aid trucks allowed daily into the Strip, urging 500 shipments instead of the current 200 daily. Moreover, the proposed $900 million aid package from the United States may not prove effective if cement and iron, currently banned from entering Gaza, remain prohibited. The continued detainment of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit remains a tripping point for the opening of Gaza border crossings, with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert consistently changing his stance on the issue. One article describes this shift as his desire for a legacy, turning it into the main saboteur to truce talks.
Special Envoy George Mitchell will travel to the region and Europe Feb. 24 –March 4. He will attend the Gaza reconstruction conference with Secretary Hillary Clinton on March 2. Other stops on his trip include: London, Ankara, Tel Aviv, Abu Dhabi, Sharm el-Sheikh, Jerusalem, and Ramallah. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia announced its intention to attend the conference and may pledge $1 billion dollars towards reconstruction.
A Canadian trade union that boycotted Israeli academic institutions amended its stance to only protest institutions conducted research in support of the IDF.
