RAMALLAH, September 3, 2011 (WAFA) - Prime Minister Salam Fayyad Saturday expressed “deep concern” over a United Nations report which considered Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip legal, according to a statement issued by Fayyad’s office.

“Even though we had not yet seen the report, the fact that it considers the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip legal is appalling and encourages Israel to continue to violate the rights of our Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip,” said Fayyad.

The UN report on Israel’s May 31, 2010 raid on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla and left nine Turkish citizens dead said Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip was legal.

He said the Palestinian Authority will continue to work with all international organizations to end the suffering in Gaza and lift the blockade.

“Legitimizing the blockade contradicts what these organizations agree on and which consider the blockade to be the main cause for the suffering of our Palestinian people in Gaza,” said Fayyad.

“The international community, particularly the UN, should take all necessary measures to end this unjust blockade so that our national authority can carry out its duties toward our people in the Gaza Strip through reconstruction, development and rebuilding the institutions.”

M.A.