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Two boats carrying activists challenging an Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip reached the shore of the Hamas-controlled territory.
The 44 "Free Gaza" activists from 17 nations, who had set out from Cyprus in two wooden boats, were met by thousands of Palestinians who cheered along the shoreline at their arrival.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said Israel's Navy, which patrols the Gaza coastline, allowed the boats to enter Gaza "in order to avoid a well-publicised provocation in the middle of the sea".
