British member of parliament and activist, George Galloway handed over cash donations and the keys of 100 aid vehicles to Hamas officials in Gaza on Tuesday.

Galloway entered Gaza one day earlier along with about 50 British and Scottish volunteers and 100 vehicles carrying food, clothing and medicine through the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza. (Video Youtube.com)

The delegation is on an aid mission organised by the UK group, Viva Palestina.

Galloway said that in total 300 British citizens and 200 Libyans would be entering Gaza as part of the mission.

Other aid, including electrical generators and a fire engine, would enter Israel, where the UK delegation hoped to get it into Gaza through coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Handing donated funds directly to Gaza-rulers Hamas is in violation of international sanctions imposed against the group which is considered a "terrorist organisation" by Israel, the United States and Europe - including Britain.

Most aid supplies to Gaza are handled through the United Nations or any of the non-governmental organisations operating in the territory.

The sanctions were imposed when Hamas, who were overwhelmingly democratically elected in a 2006 Palestinian parliament vote, broke off with the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas following months of conflict over power-sharing with the new government.

The group eventually took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, leaving Abbas' government in nominal control of the occupied West Bank only.

Israel - with Egypt on one border - has enforced a strict blockade of the seaside strip since then.

The British MP also said the trip was to demonstrate that desperately needed aid could be brought to Gaza, despite the blockades on its borders.

The Israeli government said it allows daily convoys of aid into Gaza and denies that there are shortages of food, fuel or medicine there.

But human rights organisations and the United Nations have repeatedly said that the blockade has caused a humanitarian catastrophe for the impoverished 1.4 million Gazans trapped in the territory.

The crisis was made worse by Israel's devastating three-week military offensive on the Strip earlier this year which killed nearly 1,300 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians, and left behind an estimated two billion US dollars in damage.