Tens of handicapped Palestinians have demonstrated Thursday in front of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' office in Gaza City to mark the international day of the disabled.

The demonstrators called for jobs, protection and integration in the working Palestinian society which is crippling due to Israeli blockade and a military offensive that took place last winter.

"The Palestinian disabled individual still has the capacity to be creative and to participate within his or her community," said Lateefa Nassar, a participant at the rally.

"I personally was fortunate enough to finish my studies and now I work for Afaq association that cares for the disabled," he said.

Amjad al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian non-governmental organizations network (PNGO), called for lifting the Israeli siege, imposed sine 2007, "to enable the disabled live in freedom and dignity."

"The closure prevents the disabled in Gaza from their simplest rights like treatment and supportive tools," al-Shawa added.

In the Gaza Strip, 70,000 people of the coastal enclave's 1.4 million population suffer from various levels of disability, said al-Mezan Center for Human Rights.

After the Israel's military operation, some 600 people were added to the disabled list, and the majority of them have lost limbs.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2009)