After five days on the Gaza Strip's coastline, two boats carrying humanitarian aid in efforts to break an Israeli-imposed economic blockade on the Strip set sail for Cyprus on Thursday, carrying seven Palestinians who had been confined to the Strip.
Israel's navy made no effort to stop the vessels.
Flying Palestinian flags, the boats carried dozens of activists away from Gaza's Mediterranean coastline, following a five-day stay in the Hamas-ruled territory. The two small boats sailed into Gaza last Saturday to protest Israel's yearlong blockade on Gaza, imposed after Hamas gained control of the territory. Since then, Israel has allowed only minimal humanitarian supplies to enter, causing severe shortages and hardships.
Also, few Gazans are permitted to leave due to Israeli and Egyptian travel restrictions.
"Israel's decision to allow the boats to reach Gaza and then to sail unhindered back to Cyprus was an attempt to deny the activists a propaganda victory," said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.
"If they are just carrying a few Palestinians, that is not a problem," he said, while adding that the Israeli navy had the right to stop the boats for inspection. As the boats prepared to enter international waters, there were no reports of Israeli naval activity.
The Palestinians on board included a father and his 16-year-old son, who hopes to be fitted with an artificial leg abroad. Protest organizers said the youth lost his leg in an Israeli tank shelling incident.
The other Palestinian passengers included a mother and her four children who have residency permits in Cyprus, organizers said.
Several of the activists stayed behind in Gaza. Another who did not make the trip was Jeff Halper, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen who was arrested when he returned to Israel on Tuesday and released on bail Wednesday.
Israelis are banned from entering Gaza and from contacting Hamas, which is listed as a terror organization and Halper said he expected to be charged. Israeli officials had no comment.
"On Monday, I got Palestinian citizenship," Halper said. "On Tuesday, I'm already in an Israeli jail." Israeli officials said Halper's acceptance of a Palestinian passport did not endanger his Israeli citizenship, but emphasized that he remains bound by Israeli law.
Halper said he was not mistreated in custody, but he was threatened by Israeli prisoners because of his political activities on behalf of Palestinians.
"During this whole trip to Gaza, the only time I was generally scared was in an Israeli prison," he told The Associated Press.
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