International campaigners on boats to break Gaza siege
Gaza City - Two boats carrying international campaigners are planning to sail into the Gaza Strip to break an Israeli blockade and are currently not far from "the Palestinian territorial waters," Palestinian sources said Saturday.
"The ships will be on Gaza shores during the few coming hours," said Jamal al-Khodary, an independent Palestinian parliamentarian leading a lobby against the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip.
The small wooden boats, which left Friday from Cyprus, are carrying about 40 international peace and human rights activists from the Free Gaza Movement as well as medical supplies for children.
Israel, which controls the Strip's air, sea and borders, threatened to prevent the boats from entering Gaza territorial waters.
Al-Khodary said communications between the ship and officials waiting for them in Gaza were temporarily broken by Israeli electronic jamming, which also interfered with the boats' vital systems.
"The boats carry a humanitarian message against the harsh siege that has been imposed on Gaza for more than a year," al-Khodary said.
Some 13 Palestinian boats left Gaza fishing port Saturday morning to welcome the ships. Palestinian journalists, lawmakers and human rights activists were aboard them.
Israel placed sanctions on the impoverished territory to isolate the militant Islamic group Hamas, which took over the coastal Strip last year. Accordingly, Israel shut down all crossings into and out of Gaza, allowing them to open only for the most urgent medical cases and basic food deliveries. (dpa)