Israel had threatened to block the boat but did not interfere, and it sailed unhindered into a Gaza harbor. It was greeted by Hamas policemen and a small group of Palestinian activists.

The 66-foot yacht Dignity took off from the nearby island of Cyprus on Tuesday with a shipment of humanitarian supplies. The passengers included Mairead Corrigan Maguire, who won the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize for her work with Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

“The government of Israel cannot cut off Gaza forever. We will come again and again,” Maguire said. The activists — who also include Italians, Israelis, Palestinians and Americans — are scheduled to remain in Gaza for four days.

Maguire was wounded at an April 2007 demonstration against Israel’s West Bank security barrier when a rubber bullet fired by police hit her in the leg.

Israel imposed a blockade of Gaza after the Islamic group Hamas violently seized control of the territory in June 2007, and later tightened the sanctions because of daily rocket fire from Gaza at Israeli towns. Egypt has also kept its border crossing with the territory closed.

Israel and Hamas are currently observing a truce, and the flow of goods into Gaza has slightly increased. But Palestinians say the easing of the sanctions has done little to alleviate the shortages of key goods in Gaza.

The Dignity was chartered by the U.S.-based group Free Gaza, which sailed two similar boats into Gaza in August. Israel let those boats through, too, saying at the time that ignoring them would deny the protesters the publicity they were seeking.

Israel initially said it would not allow this one to dock, but Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the decision was changed late Tuesday. He would not comment further.

Israeli activist Gideon Spiro said he joined the boat to express his opposition to his government policy toward Gaza. “It is collective punishment against people who did not do anything wrong,” he said.

Jamal Khoudary, one of the Palestinian organizers of the protest, said the boat would take 10 Gazans back to Cyprus, including students and patients needing medical care. Israel and Egypt control who enters and leaves Gaza, and it was not immediately clear whether the boat would be permitted to sail.

He said plans were under way for more boats and for a flight into Gaza to break the air blockade.

Meanwhile, Israeli troops killed a 67-year-old farmer early Wednesday in a nighttime raid in the West Bank, Palestinians said.

Taher Abahreh, 40, of the West Bank town of Yamoun, said his father, Muhammad Abahreh, was near a small enclosure outside the town guarding his livestock when he was shot. Troops were unsuccessfully trying to treat his father when he arrived about an hour after neighbors called him and reported hearing gunfire, he said.

The Israeli military said the man opened fire at the soldiers before he was killed. The military said troops found a shotgun on his body and ammunition nearby. Abahreh said his father would not have confronted troops.

Palestinian security officials confirmed Abahreh’s account.

One of Muhammad Abahreh’s other sons was a Fatah-allied militant who was killed by Israeli troops two years ago.

The Western-backed Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, leads a moderate government in the West Bank. But the territory remains under overall Israeli control, and Israeli forces carry out nightly patrols and raids targeting militants.

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The meeting on Sunday was the first between the two leaders since Israel’s 2006 war in Lebanon and comes five months after Qatar mediated an end to an 18-month political conflict in Lebanon which had escalated into street battles.

“There was an affirmation of national unity and civil peace and the need to take all measures to prevent tension … and to reinforce dialogue and to avoid strife regardless of political differences,” the statement issued by both sides said.

The rare meeting between Nasrallah and al-Hariri marks a thaw in relations between the two opponents before parliamentary elections scheduled for 2009.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar television aired footage of the meeting, which was also attended by aides to both leaders.

The joint statement also said that Nasrallah and al-Hariri would be in “mutual contact”.

Political differences

The differences between Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim political organisation which runs an armed wing, and member parties of the March 14 parliamentary majority flared into armed conflict in May.

Fighters from Hezbollah and its allies briefly took control of predominantly Muslim west Beirut, prompting an armed response by supporters of the March 14 bloc, including those allied to al-Hariri’s Future Movement.

The joint statement released on Monday said that the meeting was “honest and open” and said that the leaders would take “steps to calm the situation in the media and in the street”.

The talks between al-Hariri and Nasrallah are being seen in Lebanon as the most significant of a series of meetings between politicians from March 14 and the Hezbollah-led opposition.

Nasrallah and al-Hariri are also committed to implementing the Qatar-mediated deal which in May had called for “national dialogue” talks, Monday’s joint statement said.

The next session is scheduled for November 5.

Weapons issue

The parliamentary majority is calling for Hezbollah to disarm, in favour of building a stronger Lebanese national army.

However, Hezbollah insists that its weapons are essential to a Lebanese national resistance against Israel, its southern neighbour.

Israel failed to destroy Hezbollah during a 34-day war in 2006, which was sparked by a Hezbollah cross-border raid.

Demands for the disarmament of Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, have become increasingly shrill since the 2005 assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister and Saad’s father.

Hezbollah is the most powerful faction in Lebanon and its opposition bloc holds veto power over decisions taken in Lebanon’s cabinet.

While Hezbollah is not willing to disarm, its leaders have said that the organisation is willing to discuss a defence strategy that would define the role of its fighters.

Al Jazeera English – Middle East – Nasrallah and al-Hariri enter talks