GAZA CITY (AFP)---Dozens of pro-Palestinian activists from 14 countries toured the Gaza Strip on Sunday after their two fishing boats were allowed in despite an Israeli naval blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory.
The group also said it plans to bring 10 Palestinian students to Cyprus on the return voyage in another bid to highlight Israel's strict restriction of movement into and out of the impoverished territory of 1.5 million people.
"We are thrilled to be here," said Greta Berlin, 67, an American activist and a founder of the California-based Free Gaza movement, which organised the trip.
"We could not believe it when we saw the shore," she told reporters in Gaza City. "(It) was one small step for humankind and one giant step for Palestine."
They had set sail from Cyprus on Friday aiming to defy an Israeli blockade of the territory which was tightened when the Islamist Hamas movement seized power in June 2007.
Since then Israel has sealed Gaza off from all but vital humanitarian aid as it aims to put pressure on Palestinian militants who, before a truce took effect June 19, were launching daily rocket attacks on southern Israel.
The activists had expected to be stopped by the Israelis, who had warned them to stay out of Gaza's coastal waters, but on Saturday Israel decided to allow them through without incident in order to avoid a public standoff.
The group plans to spend 10 days in Gaza visiting schools, hospitals, and refugee camps before sailing back to Cyprus with 10 Palestinian students who have been accepted to study abroad but were prevented from leaving Gaza.
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Israel said the real aim of the activists was to highlight the blockade by being intercepted and arrested.
So Israel decided to allow the boats into Gaza, saying it wanted to avoid a publicity stunt aimed at harming the image of the Jewish state.
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"This is a symbolic mission, and the idea is to break the siege," Jeff Halper, the only Jewish Israeli member of the group, told AFP. "Israel should have no right to control the movement of Palestinians."
The group also met Ismail Haniya, who has led the Hamas-run government in Gaza since he was dismissed as Prime Minister by president Mahmoud Abbas, whose forces were routed by Hamas in a week of bloody clashes last year.
Haniya gave the activists honorary Palestinian citizenship and passports to Palestine.
Hamas, which is pledged to Israel's destruction, is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
Halper said he did not attend the meeting with Haniya for fear his presence would detract from the overall mission of the voyage.
"I don't have any problem meeting with any Palestinian," he told AFP. "But I'm in Israeli society and I have to choose my battles," he said, adding that the decision was based on "keeping the focus on breaking the siege."
The demonstrators, aged between 22 and 81, include students, lawyers, doctors and an online poker player.
Mostly American and British, they include Lauren Booth, sister-in-law of former British premier Tony Blair who is now an international Middle East peace envoy.
The boats, Liberty and Free Gaza, made the 370-kilometre (230-mile) voyage from Larnaca port on Cyprus's south coast and carried 200 hearing aids for Gaza children and 5,000 balloons.
