Speaking at a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi here in Tehran on Sunday, Awad said that people in Gaza are still facing with many problems in social services, specially with regard to supplying medicine and fuel.
He criticized the western states' indifference to the human crisis in Gaza, and said, "Such attitudes have created a paradox for the public opinion in the West from the viewpoint of human rights and democracy since they see the western government and the US administration's support for the Zionist regime."
The siege of Gaza started in June 2007 when Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip. This was supported by the governments of Egypt and the US.
The blockade consists of a land blockade along Gaza's borders with Egypt and Israel and a sea blockade. It immediately followed the 2006-2007 economic sanctions against the Palestinian National Authority following the election of Hamas to the Palestinian government.
The blockade has attracted criticism from many Human Rights organizations. September 2009 UN fact-finding mission found that the blockade of Gaza "amounted to collective punishment" was likely a war crime and a crime against humanity and recommended that the matter be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
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