Mia Farrow said Thursday she was outraged by conditions for children in the Gaza Strip after a blockade that has stretched for more than two years and a large-scale Israeli military offensive last winter.
The 64-year-old American actress also criticized Gaza militants' rocket attacks on southern Israel ,saying stopping them could lead to more international aid for the impoverished coastal strip.
Farrow's comments came during her six-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations children's agency.
"All people of conscious are offended and outraged by this situation," Farrow told reporters in Gaza. "And we sincerely hope that measures will be taken to alleviate this situation as soon as possible."
'Children traumatized'
In Gaza, Farrow visited a hospital, where she said doctors told her they lacked essential supplies.
Gaza's 1.5 million residents have been under a strict Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas militants violently seized control of the area in June 2007. Israel says it won't lift the embargo, which has caused shortages of many basic goods, until Hamas releases a captured Israeli soldier.
Farrow in Gaza (Photo: AFP)
Farrow also visited a school and spoke of the "apparent trauma" of children following Israel's three-week Gaza offensive last winter. The war, which Israeli officials said sought to stop Gaza militants from firing rockets at southern Israel, killed 13 Israelis and almost 1,400 Palestinians.
Still, she said students were "full of hope and determination" and spoke of wanting to become doctors and teachers.
Farrow also criticized militant rockets, advising Gazans "not to give the international community ammunition to view you in a negative way." Stopping them, she said, could lead to greater international aid.
During her visit to an elementary school in Sderot, a frequet target of Palestinian rocket attacks, Farrow lamented the suffering of children from both sides of the border. She later met with bereaved parents of children who were killed during rocket attacks on the southern Israeli city.
Farrow said she had not read the Goldstone Report inits entirety, but claimed that war crimes were committed by both Israel and the Palestinians during their December-January conflict in Gaza.
Farrow has enjoyed a long film career, including roles in "Rosemary's Baby," "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors." UNICEF named her a goodwill ambassador in 2000.
Earlier this year, she held a 12-day hunger strike to show solidarity with the people in Sudan's Darfur region and demand US President Barack Obama's help in ending the suffering there.
Other goodwill ambassadors have included Audrey Hepburn, Roger Moore, David Beckham and Orlando Bloom.