By Xinhua,
Gaza : A third voyage to challenge Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip successfully completed on Saturday morning as the “Dignity” ship docked in the harbor of the Hamas-ruled territory.
Palestinian witnesses said the ship, which set off Friday from Cyprus, berthed at 9:30 a.m. (0730 GMT) in Gaza fishing port with a handful of Hamas officials and tens of Palestinians welcoming the delegation.
The yacht carries 11 journalists, human rights and peace activists in addition to 12 European parliamentarians whom Egypt barred from traveling to Gaza through its territories last month.
Hamas authorities arranged a three-day program for the delegation to inspect the effects of the Israeli closure, especially on the healthcare system.
Nasser al-Badri, a London-based reporter for the Qatari satellite channel al-Jazeera, said this trip “was easier than the previous two voyages,” adding that it is also more important “since it carries parliamentarians whose governments boycott Hamas and its government.”
The delegation is headed by Nazir Ahmed, a Labour member of the House of Lords in Britain. Most of the parliamentarians came from Britain and the remaining represented Italy, Switzerland and Ireland.
Sami al-Haj, al-Jazeera’s cameraman who spent five years in Guantanamo prison, is among the passengers. Clare Short, former British minister of international development, is also on board.
Israeli navy allowed the ship to enter Gaza territorial waters as it has done with the previous voyage. Israel imposed a tight sea blockade on Gaza and banned Palestinian fishermen to work beyond two nautical miles.
The voyage is chartered by the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement which challenges against the Israeli sanctions on Gaza Strip. The movement ferried its first mission, which was made up of two boats, in August and the second cruise in October.
Israel sealed off the Gaza Strip when the Islamic Hamas movement seized the salient in June 2007. But human rights groups and the working UN bodies in Gaza said Gaza people pay the price of the sanctions.