Impoverished Gazans Angry Over Israeli Blockade Vows

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, desperate for medical and other supplies, are watching the high seas confrontation between Israel and blockade runners with a combination of sadness and anger.

Photo: Impoverished Gazans Angry Over Israeli Blockade Vows: Isolated Gaza Has Unemployment Rate of 44 Percent
People struggle to get food handouts from a local charity outside of Gaza City, in this Jan. 2009... Expand
(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

In the hours after Israeli commandos captured a flotilla of six ships in a bloody fight that left nine people dead earlier this week, Palestinians were furious.

Streets were ''packed with Palestinians, many headed out to the harbor where the ships were due to dock," Amjad Shawa, coordinator for the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations, told ABC News. "There was anger, sadness and shock. No one expected the Israelis to attack and commit such bloodshed.''

Shawa said that among the tons of supplies on the ships that were intercepted were 500 electric wheelchairs destined for paralyzed children.

''They didn't even want the chairs anymore when they heard what was happening. They just wanted the safety of the civilians on the ships,'' Shawa said.

Arab Personality: Mitch Daniels

Mitch Daniels

Mitchell Elias "Mitch" Daniels, Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is the 49th and current Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana. A Republican, he began his four-year term as Indiana's 49th Governor on January 10, 2005 and was elected to his second term by an 18 point margin on November 4, 2008. Previously he was the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under George W. Bush and also worked for Eli Lilly and Company.

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