Gaza City, May 21 (RHC)-- A humanitarian aid convoy has arrived in the besieged Gaza Strip as part of efforts to break the Israeli-imposed blockade of the impoverished Palestinian coastal enclave. According to a report on Press TV, the convoy entered the Gaza Strip through Egypt’s Rafah border crossing, carrying medical supplies and humanitarian assistance.

Twenty-five activists escorted the aid convoy.‎ They say they'll stay in Gaza for three days during which they will ‎meet officials and visit different areas.‎ Rashad al-Baz, coordinator of the aid convoy, said: “We are accompanied by Algerian and Jordanian delegations which have always helped Palestinians. We come as there is happiness about the Palestinian unity deal. This year we will have high solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners and Gazans, who are under the Israeli siege.”

The Miles of Smiles 27 convoy has adopted a slogan of national unity in a show of support for a recent unity agreement signed between Hamas and Fatah.

On April 23rd, Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which includes Fatah party, reached a reconciliation deal to resolve their differences. Under the deal, Hamas and Fatah are to form a unity government within five weeks and hold national elections six months later.

Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, an act which has caused a decline in the standard of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty. The Israeli regime denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages and adequate healthcare and education.