David Cameron, the British prime minister, has urged Israel to lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip, describing the current state of the Palestinian enclave as a "prison camp".

Speaking on Tuesday at a meeting of a Turkish business association in Ankara, Cameron said: "Let me be clear that the situaion in Gaza has to change ... Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp."

Cameron, who also held talks with with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his Turkish counterpart, defended his harsh description, saying that "even though some progress has been made we're still in a situation where it's very difficult to get in, it's very difficult to get  out..."

"We've long supported lifting the blockade of Gaza," he said.

But the prime minister acknowledged Israel's security concerns, pointing to rocket attacks from Gaza, run by Gaza rulers Hamas.

'Right answer'

"We both share the view that direct talks (between Israel and the Plaestinians) is the right answer," Cameron said, referring to Erdogan.

Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after the Islamist Hamas movement took control of the territory.

Gaza has been closed to virtually all supplies, and Palestinians inside the territory have had to deal with food shortages, lengthy power cuts and no cooking gas.

Following international uproar over a deadly Israeli raid on  Gaza-bound aid ships on May 31, the Jewish state said it would begin allowing all purely civilian goods into Gaza.

It said it would also allow building materials into the  territory but only for internationally supervised projects and that its naval blockade would remain in place to keep Hamas from  importing military-grade rockets and other weapons.

The Gazan economy is also being further stifled by an inability  to export goods.