GAZA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Palestinian demonstrators called on Tuesday on the United Nations to end the tight Israeli blockade that had been imposed on the Gaza Strip for more than 11 years.
The demonstrators gathered in front of the UN headquarters in western Gaza City, waved Palestinian flags and carried banners that condemned the Israeli blockades and called for an international intervention to end it.
The Highest Commission of the Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege, which organized the demonstration, said in a press statement that the siege must be lifted as immediate as possible.
The statement of the commission had also warned Israel over the postponement of implementing the recent calm understandings that had been brokered between Israel and the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip.
"The weekly marches of return will go on until the siege is immediately lifted," said the commission's statement.
Sami Ammassi, chairman of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, who joined the demonstration, told reporters that the rate of unemployment in the Gaza Strip exceeded 54 percent and poverty rates hit 80 percent.
"We call on the United Nations and the international organizations to pressure on Israel to lift the blockade that had critically affected all aspects of life," he said, adding "we also call on the Arab League to help end Gaza people's suffering."
The march of return event, which started at the end of March last year, calls on Israel to end the blockade and stresses the right of return for the Palestinian refugees.
Egypt, the UN and Qatar have been mediating a clam agreement in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the enclave.
