Palestinian premier Ismail Haneyya met on Wednesday with international figures from the aid convoy the Arab Spring in his office in Gaza city and hailed their position in support of the Palestinian people.
Haneyya told the officials that their visit to Gaza is highly respected by his government and the Palestinian citizens who felt there was a growing international interest in their suffering and national cause as they were receiving international figures coming from 40 countries.
"We see a profound and positive change in the nations' positions towards the other oppressed peoples in the world especially the Palestinian people, and this is something we believe that annoys the Israeli occupation that showed some field reactions and sent its warplanes to bomb civilian areas in Gaza at dawn today to disturb this visit," the premier highlighted.
"I believe they (Israelis) will not succeed in that because the visit has received wide political and media attention," he added.
For her part, former British minister of international development Clare Short, who participated in the convoy, thanked premier Haneyya and the Palestinian people in Gaza for their warm welcome and generous hospitality and hailed their steadfastness in the face of the occupation and its aggression.
Short also offered an apology for her government's positions that encourage Israel to persist in its violence, and expressed her belief that the Arab awakening and awareness would be able to prompt the western governments to change their attitudes towards the Palestinian cause.
She stressed that she and her partners in the convoy would be witnesses to the violations committed by Israel against the Palestinians and would defend the justice of their cause.
