Bolstered by the successful sea voyage of activists that docked in the Gaza Strip this weekend, several humanitarian organisations are seeking to establish a “ferry service” of goods into the coastal strip.

The two wooden fishing boats sailed by the Free Gaza movement were the first to break the embargo, established when the Islamist Hamas movement seized control of Gaza in June 2007. Despite Israel saying earlier that they would not be let in, the boats sailed under Greek flags from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip in less than two days.

Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, an organiser for Free Gaza, said that the group had established a precedent that could be used regularly to deliver aid to Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants.

She said: “We are certainly planning future trips. Scores of people have been contacting the movement hoping for a space on the next boat we send.”

The activists on the maiden voyage came from 14 countries, and included an 81-year-old nun, an Israeli, and Lauren Booth, sister-in-law of Tony Blair, now Middle East peace envoy.

Although some Palestinians complained that the boats delivered only 200 children's hearing aids and 5,000 balloons, Ms Godfrey-Goldstein said that the trip was not a humanitarian mission, but rather a symbolic voyage meant “to draw attention to human rights in Gaza”.

Israeli officials said that they were treating the incident as an isolated case, and would evaluate future attempts to breach the embargo individually and on their merits.

Arye Mekel, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said: “This is not setting any sort of precedent. We knew they were looking for a media provocation so we decided not to let them have the confrontation they wanted.”

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