A group of independent Palestinian mediators urged Washington to press Israel to lift Gaza blockade, the group said in a statement issued Wednesday.

The call was made during a meeting between the independents and officials in the US consulate in Jerusalem.

"The meetings were focused on the hard living conditions in the Gaza Strip due to the siege," said Yasser Al-Wadia, head of the independents.

The statement said the mediators urged Washington and the international community to start practical steps to allow materials into Gaza to begin rebuilding there.

Israel imposed the blockade on Gaza in 2007 in response to Islamic Hamas movement's takeover of the coastal enclave. In January 2009, Israel ended a three-week offensive in Gaza, killing up to 1,400 Palestinians and destroying thousands of buildings and institutions.

The group of independent mediators was formed following the power struggle between Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement. The group also arranges with Egypt in its efforts to broker a national Palestinian reconciliation.

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2010)