Human right activists from the Free Gaza Movement aboard the SS Dignity have arrived in Gaza in spite of Israeli threats to stop them.

"Whatever risks we face are nothing compared to the daily violence, brutality and suffering imposed against Palestinians," Irish human rights activist Caoimhe Butterly told Press TV correspondent Ashraf Shannon upon arrival in the coastal strip on Wednesday.

"We saw our legal right to come here and saw it necessary to break the criminality of the Israeli siege on Gaza in order to represent an alternative face of the world," she added.

The Israeli Navy warned on Wednesday that it would deny the activists entry into the Gaza Strip.

The SS dignity is carrying 27 unarmed civilians from some 13 countries as well as urgently needed medical supplies. The pro-Palestinian activists say that by breaking the Israeli embargo and entering Gaza they want to set an example for others to follow suit.

"The trip here is to show that obviously no one can stop us," said Australian activist Renee Bowyer.

Former Palestinian presidential candidate Mustafa Barghouty -- who was among the passengers aboard the ship -- stressed that Gaza would never be abandoned.

"We will not leave Gaza, we will not abandon Gaza and it is approved today that the Palestinian resistance groups are mightier than the Israeli occupation and those who support it," he said.

The Free Gaza Movement has pledged to expose Israeli apartheid and injustice against the Palestinians and has so far sent three ships to the strip.

The Gaza Strip's population of 1.5 million has suffered under an Israeli blockade imposed since June 2007. Israel has imposed restrictions on the entry of vital goods, including food, fuel, medical supplies and construction materials that are allowed to enter the region.

The Gaza siege has provoked an outcry with peace activists worldwide condemning the human rights violation.

In August, two Greek boats -- carrying high-profile people such as Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of former British prime minister Tony Blair and Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein -- arrived in the populated coastal region in defiance of the Israeli blockade for the first time.

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