Boats arrive in Gaza early Saturday evening

Gaza / PNN - The two ships designed to “Break the Siege” on Gaza arrived on the shores of Mediterranean in a symbolic gesture aimed at drawing attention to the suffering of the Gaza Strip brought on by the Israeli siege.

The message is clear: lift the siege and end the suffering of the Gaza Strip’s 1.5 million Palestinians. The boats were able to come ashore after much Israeli tampering with the mission, but with the end-time decision to let them in. Israeli Prime Minister Olmert, Foreign Minister Livni and Defense Minister Barak met and then told the warships to let them pass to the shores of Gaza.

Upon their arrival, after a day and a half at sea, thousands of Palestinians who had been gathered on shore waiting ran to welcome the passengers who for the first time in history have broken through by sea.

The Palestinian Prime Minister, who was ousted by the President but is still in office in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniya, expressed his personal appreciation and the appreciation of the Palestinian people for this “courageous humanitarian step.” Prime Minister Haniya issued a statement earlier on Saturday affirming the right of access for the vessels to Gaza, while denouncing the Israeli obstacles placed in front of them.

As evening sets the 40 people aboard the SS Free Gaza and SS Liberty are being treated as kings and queens in Gaza by the Palestinians who awaited them. The mission was symbolic, but was more important than 10 tons of rice, as one Gazan said, reiterating, “We don’t want food, we want freedom.”