Two boats carrying 44 pro-Palestinian activists have docked in Gaza after Israel allowed them through its tight blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory.
The boats set sail last night from Cyprus carrying activists and the flags of 17 countries, including Ireland, seeking to highlight the crippling effects of the Gaza blockade.
The boats were greeted by thousands of people waving Palestinian flags at the port in Gaza .
Crowds lining the shore chanted 'No, no, to the siege!' as dozens of young men dived into the waters of the harbour and swam towards the flag-decked boats.
'This is a great victory in breaking the siege and the beginning of what we hope will be more and more boats,' said Riad al-Faraj, the Gaza-based head of the International Committee to Break the Siege, which helped organise the trip.
Islam Shahwan, a spokesman for Gaza's Hamas-run security forces, said 500 police officers have been deployed to protect the activists.
Interference claims
Israel had initially warned the activists to stay away from Gaza's coastal waters, saying the voyage would support 'the regime of a terror organisation,' but in the end allowed them to pass through without incident.
'They wanted provocation at sea but they won't get it. We know who the passengers are and what they are bringing with them and so we have no problem letting them through,' foreign ministry spokesman Aviv Shiron told reporters.
Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, a Jerusalem-based spokeswoman for the so-called Free Gaza Movement which organised the event, said the boats' communications systems had been attacked by what she called 'electronic piracy'.
Earlier in the day around 20 Gaza fishing boats flying Palestinian flags left Gaza City's main port in a bid to welcome the two blockade runners, but were turned back when Israeli gunships in the distance fired warning shots.
Israel has tightened its blockade of Gaza since Hamas seized power in June 2007, sealing the territory off from all but vital humanitarian aid in a bid to put pressure on Palestinian militants who have fired hundreds of rockets at southern Israel in the past year.
Abubakr Nofal, a senior Hamas member, said the voyage was a 'strong message to the Arab people and to Arab leaders,' and called on them to pressure the US and Israel to lift the blockade.
