Activists sail from Cyprus on Friday in bid to bust Gaza siege

Human rights activists are planning to break Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip by sailing in two yachts from Cyprus this morning to the Gaza Strip.

The ships, Free Gaza and Liberty, had originally planned to set sail three weeks ago, but technical problems and bad weather anchored the ships in Crete.

This week, the group managed to sail from Crete to Cyprus, and yesterday completed their preparations for the voyage.

Israel plans to block the ships from reaching Gaza. The activists say they want to break the blockade, but even if they are stopped they will view it as an achievement as they will show Israel is enforcing the blockade on civilians, too.

Forty-six activists will set sail on two small yachts. Jeff Halper, the only Israeli on board the ships, said: "It is very crowded.

There are not enough sleeping berths for everyone but since the trip is only 30 hours, I believe we will make do."

The activists have come from the U.S., Britain, Germany, Greece, the Palestinian Authority and other countries. Yesterday they organized a press conference in Larnaca to announce their intention to sail.

They also held a memorial ceremony for the 34 sailors on the U.S.S. Liberty, an intelligence gathering ship attacked by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967.

They said sailors from the Liberty contacted them and asked them to note the attack, as one of the ships bears the same name.

They tossed 34 flowers into the sea as a memorial.