Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations

    GAZA, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Palestinians set to prepare an official and popular ceremony to receive Egyptian campaigners who are traveling to Gaza Strip to break the closure of the territory, a Palestinian official said on Wednesday.

    Jamal al-Khodary, an independent Palestinian lawmaker who leads a lobby against the Israeli blockade on Gaza Strip, representatives of Hamas government in Gaza and lawmakers will join the ceremony to receive the convoy.

    The Egyptian convoy made up of parliamentarians, journalists, Islamic and leftist leaders. They will travel by land to Rafah crossing point between Egypt and Gaza and try to enter the Hamas-controlled territory.

    But reports said that Egyptian security forces blocked the roads to Sinai before the convoy. The campaigners could pass some roadblocks but the road is still not cleared before the convoy which carry aid, according to the reports.

    Last year, Israel sealed off all commercial crossing points into Gaza to isolate the Islamic Hamas movement which took over the territory by force after routing security forces loyal to president Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah.

    Egypt also maintained the closure of Rafah crossing point since a U.S.-brokered protocol says the crossing can not be opened without the presence of pro-Abbas forces.

    Last month, international pro-Palestinian activists succeeded to break the naval Israeli blockade and their two small ships docked in Gaza.