Middle East envoy Tony Blair’s sister-in-law is trapped in the Gaza Strip.
Lauren Booth arrived in Gaza nearly two weeks ago on a boat filled with activists protesting the Israeli blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. When the boat left Aug. 28, she remained with several other activists.
Booth has been refused entry to both Israel and Egypt through their border crossings with the strip. Israel has a policy of refusing entry to anyone from Gaza who did not come through Israel, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman told Reuters.
Egypt would not allow Booth and two other activists to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing. Booth told Reuters that she was told Egypt was acting under pressure from Israel.
The London-based Telegraph said it is not known if Blair, the former British prime minister who represents the diplomatic Quartet grouping of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, has tried to intervene on Booth’s behalf.
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