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Last update - 06:29 27/08/2008
Police detain Israeli for entering Gaza in blockade-busting boat
By Ofri Ilani, Haaretz Correspondent and Reuters
Tags: Blockade, Gaza, Israel 

Police on Tuesday detained an Israeli activist who had sailed to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to challenge Israel's blockade of the coastal region.

They accused Jeff Halper, who also holds United States citizenship, of violating a ban on Israelis entering Gaza.

Halper was among 44 "Free Gaza" activists from 17 nations who sailed in two boats from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip on Saturday in defiance of the blockade.
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He spent three days in the Gaza Strip before entering Israel through the Erez border crossing, where police detained him.

According to Halper, Israeli forces at the crossing initially told him that if he came with the boat, he should return the same way. However, he said, they allowed him to cross into Israel shortly afterward.

"He is being questioned at the police station in Sderot for entering the Gaza Strip in defiance of a military decree banning Israeli citizens from doing so," Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Halper told Haaretz on Tuesday that he expected to be interrogated upon his return to Israel. He expressed satisfaction with his success in entering and leaving Gaza, and said he did not fear harassment by Israeli security forces.

Israel allowed the activists to sail to the Gaza Strip, the first foreigners to reach the territory by sea since travel restrictions were tightened after Hamas's takeover more than a year ago, saying it wanted to avoid a public confrontation.

The activists brought with them a symbolic shipment of hearing aids.

They plan to sail back to Cyprus on Thursday and have vowed to take several Palestinians with them, including students prevented by Israel from leaving Gaza to study abroad.

As part of an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that took effect in June, Israel has eased its blockade of the territory, allowing in more humanitarian goods and medical equipment.



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  • Haniyeh: Arrival of blockade-busting boats spells end of Gaza siege
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      1.   Halper "said he did not fear harassment by Israeli security" 22:49  |  Truthteller 26/08/08
      2.   strip halpern of citizenship cancel unversity pension exile forev 22:52  |  ralph 26/08/08
      3.   DID he watch any Qassem launchings?Or Hamas TV? 22:55  |  PETER SM 26/08/08
      4.   Absolutely nothing... 23:53  |  Maureen Ann 26/08/08
      5.   He simply should have been denied access 00:18  |  Alex 27/08/08
      6.   DID he watch any Qassem launchings? Hamas TV? 02:19  |  PETER SM 27/08/08
      7.   They have to get back to school and jobs! 02:29  |  MARK KLEIN, M.D. 27/08/08
      8.   Should be followed by arrest of arab MKs that visit our enemies 02:55  |  Arie 27/08/08
      9.   MAUREEN" Peace makers"? Did they ask about the Hamas charter?The 04:27  |  PETER SM 27/08/08
      10.   mark klein - Perfectly? 07:53  |  Mary Hughes 27/08/08
      11.   Maureen Ann 08:19  |  Jim 27/08/08
      12.   Complicity. 08:57  |  Jean Van Daem 27/08/08
      13.   Like you Maureen Anne...... 09:00  |  Aliza 27/08/08
      14.   Mary Hughes had a lovely holiday 10:17  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 27/08/08
      15.   Is that all the martyr these holidayers can muster? 18:42  |  Serge 27/08/08
      16.   #1 How would you know, truth teller? 19:15  |  Ben Alofs 27/08/08
      17.   Taking students with them? 06:57  |  Gershon Reed 28/08/08
      18.   I take it he never served in the IDF ! 07:09  |  Sous 28/08/08
      19.   send halper back to gaza; let him stay with his friends. 08:11  |  dante 28/08/08
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