JERUSALEM (AP) — A boat carrying pro-Palestinian advocates from eight countries is en route to Gaza in the latest attempt to break Israel's naval blockade on the coastal territory, an activist on board said Tuesday.
Dror Feiler, an Israeli on the boat, said it left Naples on Sunday and aims to reach Gaza in mid-October. He said the boat is carrying items such as cement, basketballs, musical instruments and theater lighting equipment.
Israel imposed the blockade after the militant Islamic Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 from their rival, the more secular Palestinian Fatah.
Palestinians and their backers consider the blockade illegal collective punishment against the people of Gaza. A September 2011 U.N. report upheld the legality of the naval blockade, calling it a "legitimate security measure," although it criticized land restrictions. Other legal experts at the U.N., along with the Red Cross, have said the blockade is illegal.
Under heavy international pressure, Israel eased the closure in 2010 after a naval raid killed nine Turkish activists on board another Gaza-bound flotilla. more
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