FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 8, 2009

Contact: Joy Portella, 206.437.7885, jportella@sea.mercycorps.org

- Delayed food shipment crosses border, second shipment waits as aid group intensifies call for access

- Daily ceasefire for humanitarian aid "hasn't changed our reality" says Mercy Corps' regional director

Portland, OR - The global relief and development agency Mercy Corps has issued an urgent call for immediate humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip. After three days of repeated delays, the first shipment of Mercy Corps relief supplies - seven metric tons of food - has crossed into the territory. A second shipment funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is awaiting approval from Israeli authorities to be brought into Gaza.

Mercy Corps' team in Jerusalem reports that Israel's new daily three-hour ceasefire to allow aid into the Gaza Strip has not made any noticeable difference. "It hasn't changed our reality," says David Holdridge, Mercy Corps Regional Program Director for the Middle East. "We're still dealing with the same approval processes for aid, and only a limited number of trucks are going in each day - not nearly enough to satisfy the pressing needs for food, shelter, medical supplies and other items."

Holdridge notes that passage into Gaza is not the only difficulty. "Once we get aid in, we are faced with the challenge of how to move it around a territory that's been divided in half by the military operation," explains Holdridge. "And how do we get food and blankets to people who are too afraid to leave their homes?"

These comments came after three days of repeated delays of a shipment carrying food for hungry Gazans. Entry was first postponed after Israeli ground troops went into the territory and border restrictions increased. The shipment was delayed a second time on Wednesday morning because some of its previously approved contents, specifically dates, were deemed unacceptable as a non-essential item. The food shipment - minus the dates but plus an additional three tons of rice - crossed into Gaza on Thursday morning.

A second Mercy Corps shipment funded by USAID contains $220,000 worth of food, medical supplies, and essentials like soap, water purification tablets, candles and blankets. This shipment joined a queue of humanitarian assistance waiting to enter the territory.

Mercy Corps has invited its community of online activists to speak out about the issue of humanitarian access to the highest levels of United States government. More than 2,600 people have responded, signing an online petition to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Secretary of State-Designate Hillary Clinton calling on the U.S. to "take immediate steps to encourage full humanitarian access for supplies to enter into Gaza, and for access within Gaza to ensure supplies reach those in urgent need." The petition can be viewed and signed at http://is.gd/eJru.

The agency is also accepting donations to support its relief efforts at www.mercycorps.org/gazacrisis.

HOW TO HELP: Mercy Corps Gaza Crisis Fund Dept NR PO Box 2669 Portland, OR 97208 www.mercycorps.org 1-800-852-2100

Mercy Corps is working with a network of hundreds of Gazan young people to ensure their voices are heard during the current conflict. Read their continuous feed of insights and experiences at www.twitter.com/mercycorps.

About Mercy Corps:

Mercy Corps works amid disasters, conflicts, chronic poverty and instability to unleash the potential of people who can win against nearly impossible odds. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided $1.5 billion in assistance to people in 106 nations. Supported by headquarters offices in North America and Europe, the agency's unified global programs employ 3,500 staff worldwide and reach nearly 16.4 million people in more than 35 countries.