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MP yards away from bomb blast
23/ 4/2008
GLOSSOP MP Tom Levitt got a first hand account of life in the war-torn Gaza strip when he toured the area.
He was with a group of three other MPs who were queuing to get back into Israel from Gaza at a border post at Erez, when a mortar bomb landed just 50 yards away.
Mr Levitt said: "It was very scary for a few seconds. We had been waiting for two hours to re-enter Israel at a very remote border crossing. We had been warned not to go there as the situation was very dangerous.
"We heard a loud thud some 50 yards away and were immediately taken to a toilet block. It had concrete walls that were two-and-a-half feet thick and we stayed there until it was safe to come out."
The MPs were part of an International Parliamentary Union delegation which visited Gaza for one day and spent four days in the West Bank. They toured the areas meeting Palestinian residents and hearing stories about their living conditions. Some were living in refugee camps, their families evicted when the state of Israel was founded 60 years ago.
"It was the first time I’ve visited Gaza and the third time I’d been to Israel," said Mr Levitt. "We’d seen people who had been injured by rocket attacks and heard how one sewage works had been bombed and the Israeli security forces had not allowed contractors in to repair it."
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