GAZA - Arab and foreign activists on Tuesday signed the World People Declaration Against Siege in the Gaza Strip, a document protesting Israel's closure on the Palestinian coastal enclave.

The activists entered Gaza through its southern border with Egypt Monday evening as members of the "Freedom Spring Convoy" formed by nationals of 40 Arab and European countries.

They signed the declaration in a ceremony attended by senior leaders of Islamic Hamas movement that controls Gaza.

The activists hope to take their declaration to the United Nations Human Rights Council to strengthen public pressure against the closure.

Israel imposed the blockade when Hamas took over Gaza by force in 2007 but eased the siege in June 2010 following an international outcry over its raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla where nine Turks were killed.