Two ambassadors of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday denounced the Israeli blockade on the Palestinian Gaza Strip after visiting the coastal enclave.

The closure on Gaza was "unprecedented in the 21st century," said Mahmoud Qabeel, an Egyptian actor, at a press conference on the final day of a visit to Gaza together with US actress Mia Farrow as UNICEF goodwill ambassadors.

"I am so happy to visit the Gazan children and to show solidarity with their families in their daily suffering," Qabeel said, adding that the Palestinian children must "have the same rights as all children of the world."

Qabeel affirmed that he will bring "the Palestinian suffering in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem to the world."

For her part, Farrow said, "The children appear traumatized. Teachers told me that the children look to the sky and cry and weep when they hear loud noises. They don't know what the future holds. They deserve better."

The two actors arrived in Gaza on Wednesday. They visited the war-torn areas and met with children who suffered during Israel's December 27-January 18 military operation in the coastal enclave.

Israel has been imposing a tight siege on cargo flow to the Strip since the Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement seized power there, while Egypt has limited travel through its northern borders with Gaza to critical humanitarian cases.

(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2009)