GAZA CITY: A human rights group says two boats have departed for Cyprus from Gaza, carrying dozens of international activists who defied Israel’s blockade of the coastal strip.
They say seven Palestinians, including five children, were also on board.
The activists sailed into Gaza on Saturday to protest Israel’s blockade, imposed after the anti-Israel Hamas movement took control there last year.
Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers have observed a truce since mid-June, but Gaza’s borders remain largely sealed.
An Israeli government official had no comment shortly before the boats left.
The Palestinians on board included a father and his 16-year-old son, who hopes to be fitted with an artificial leg at an unspecified medical facility abroad. The teenager said his right leg was blown off by an Israeli tank shell two years ago during a military incursion.
The other Palestinian passengers were a mother and her four children, who have residency permits in Cyprus. -AP
