In another attempt to break the crippling Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, a group of 'Viva Palestina' activists has arrived in Egypt on a humanitarian mission.

About 100 US activists with tons of medical supplies arrived in Egypt on Sunday on their way to Gaza, hoping to break the deadly Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the territory --home to 1.5 million Palestinians.The activists are part of a convoy of at least 200 people - all Americans - planned to be in Gaza by July 13. The convoy will head to the border after the rest of the group and supplies arrive.British lawmaker George Galloway, who led a convoy that broke a Gaza blockade in March, has organized the group, and it will be one of the largest groups of US activists to reach the strip since 2007 when Hamas took control of the coastal territory. Egypt and Israel have sealed their borders with the seaside territory since then leaving thousands of Gazans in desperate need of life's essentials.It is not clear whether Cairo, which has rarely opened the Rafah crossing, would allow the aid convoy to enter the territory via Rafah.According to a recent report by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the crippling Israeli-led blockade, which has prevented supplies from reaching Gaza, has created a dire humanitarian situation in the region.The humanitarian agency says seriously ill patients are not receiving the treatment they need and thousands of Gazans whose homes were destroyed during Israel's three-week Christmas war are still without shelter.Last week, Israeli forces detained a group of foreign activists, including former US congresswoman and Nobel Prize laureate Cynthia McKinney, as they were heading to Gaza on a humanitarian mission and confiscated tons of medicine - as well as toys, crayons and olive trees - destined for the besieged people of Gaza.