Hamas welcomes UN report that calls for lifting Israeli siege on Gaza

GAZA, July 1 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Friday welcomed a UN report that called for the immediate ending of the siege that Israel has been imposing on the Gaza Strip since 2007.

On Thursday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report that the situation in the Gaza Strip "is catastrophic" due to a siege that has been imposed on the coastal enclave for 15 years.

"The Israeli siege raised the rates of poverty and unemployment to be the highest in the world, destroyed the economy, crushed a large segment of the Palestinians, and turned them to depend on international aid by more than 50 percent," the report said.

"The siege of Gaza should be lifted completely in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1860," OCHA said.

The report called for the immediate lifting of the Israeli siege, lifting all restrictions that undermined the Palestinian economy, and reopening and constructing factories destroyed during the conflicts.

Hamas Spokesman in Gaza Abdel Latif al-Qanou called on the international community to work to put an end to the "Israeli occupation."