A HUMANITARIAN worker from Ryedale is to join an international convoy of ambulances making its way to Gaza, in the Middle-East, with much-needed medical supplies.

Mike Gwilliam, 61, from Norton, is looking forward to joining his colleagues in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on December 21. The ambulance he will join was waved off from York a week ago to join up with the convoy, which has been organised by Viva Palestine.

Mr Gwilliam said yesterday that the vehicles had now reached the Italian coastal town of Ancona.

“I’m joining them later next week,” he said. “It means I can do last-minute checks for anything we need or might have forgotten.

“From Ancona, it’s boarding the ferry to go down to Greece, where it will arrive on Saturday, and from there it will travel overland to the Turkish capital, Istanbul.

“The ambulance has been going well – it’s been quite cold down through Germany and Austria and there was freezing snow at the Brenner Pass, where they were in their tents and sleeping bags.”

Mr Gwilliam was one of the team behind fundraising efforts to purchase the ambulance and stock it with medical supplies for the people of Gaza. While looking forward to joining his colleagues, he said he was concerned over news of a new wall being built by the Egyptians, to stop smuggling from Gaza.

He feared the construction would not only hamper the convoy’s progress, but lead to further deprivation for the Palestinians, who are already struggling under economic and military pressure from Israel.

He said: “This will make things even worse for Gaza. There is already no gas, very little power and increasingly less food.

“We really do feel that the convoy is going to be so important in bringing some supplies into this place because the siege there is getting worse.

“I am glad I am going but I wish it wasn’t such a dire situation.”