GAZA CITY, Aug 23: Two boats from Cyprus carrying 44 pro-Palestinian activists docked in the Gaza Strip on Saturday after Israel allowed them through its tight blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory.

The boats set sail on Friday from the east Mediterranean island carrying activists from 17 countries, including Israel, determined to highlight the blockade of Gaza where the Hamas movement has ruled since June 2007.

The boats sailed through choppy grey seas and into Gaza City’s main port, where they were greeted by thousands of people waving Palestinian flags, many of them motoring around the harbour in boats.

Crowds lining the shore chanted “God is great!” and “No, no, to the siege!” as dozens of young men dived into the murky 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.

“I am very happy to have arrived in Gaza,” Edith Lutz, a 59-year-old activist from Germany said. “We came to help the Palestinian people in Gaza to lift the siege.” 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.

Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, an Al Quds-based spokeswoman for the Free Gaza Movement which organised the event, said the boats’ communications systems had been attacked by “electronic piracy” earlier in the day.

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 allegedly fired hundreds of rockets at southern Israel in the past year.—AFP