UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged the Zionist authorities on Wednesday to ease restrictions on travel for Palestinians between the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank for prayers during the holy month of Ramadan.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged the Zionist authorities on Wednesday to ease restrictions on travel for Palestinians between the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank for prayers during the holy month of Ramadan.

The occupation entity announced earlier Wednesday that it was revoking permits for 500 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to enter Jerusalem for prayers during the holy Muslim month because of rocket fire from Gaza.

Ban "encourages Israel to sustain and expand these confidence-building measures which enable the legitimate movement of people and goods in and between Gaza and the West Bank including East-Jerusalem, and improve the quality of life of Palestinians," Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman told the Security Council.

Gaza, ravaged by three wars in the past six years, is under a blockade, with the Zionist entity maintaining strict control over the entry and exit of goods and people.

The latest cancellations of travel permits only applied to this week, meaning it should resume next week allowing up to 800 Gazans to travel for Friday prayers to Al-Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam.

Pro-Palestinian activists aboard a flotilla of boats plan to reach the shores of the Gaza Strip by the end of the month, in their latest bid to break the Zionist blockade of the tiny coastal enclave.

But Feltman said the UN secretary-general "continues to believe that a flotilla will not help to address the dire situation in Gaza."

A similar attempt five years ago ended in bloodshed, after Zionist commandos stormed the flotilla and killed 10 Turkish activists, triggering a diplomatic crisis with Ankara.