UN chief urges Israelis, Palestinians to return to two-state negotiations

The prospects of a two- state solution in the Middle East are getting dimmer with potentially explosive consequences for the entire region, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Tuesday as he urged the international community to boost efforts at bringing both Israeli and Palestinian delegations back to the negotiating table.

In his remarks to the UN Security Council on the Middle East peace process, the secretary-general strongly urged the incoming Israeli government to reaffirm Israel's commitment to the two- state solution and to take credible steps to foster an environment conducive to a return to meaningful negotiations, including a freeze of settlement activity.

"The international community must do more to promote a return to negotiations that will end nearly half a century of occupation and allow two States, Israel and Palestine, to live side by side in security in peace," he said.

The two-state solution, widely backed by the international community, means a secure Israel to live in peace with an independent State of Palestine.

"Over the years, we have seen determined efforts to achieve a comprehensive, negotiated peace based on a two-state solution," the secretary-general said as he briefed the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East at a meeting chaired by Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, whose country holds the council's rotating presidency for the month.

"Instead of peace, however, there have been decades of missed opportunities and failures that have come at an enormous cost," he said.

The council meeting came on the heels of Israel's most recent election and the impending formation of a new Israeli government but also a flare-up in tensions between the government in Tel Aviv and the Palestinian Authority.

The secretary-general also welcomed the agreement reached last week between the Palestinian Authority and the government of Israel, under which Israel has now transferred more than 470 million U.S. dollars in revenues collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

He underlined that the recurrent withholding of such revenues is counterproductive, and seriously undermines the ability of the government of Palestine to carry out its responsibilities.

The secretary-general said that both sides face difficult choices. But one choice stands above all: whether to choose peace or death, destruction or suffering that has defined the conflict for far too long.

Ultimately, he said, the parties themselves must demonstrate the commitment and courage necessary to chart a viable course toward a better future.

Humanitarian agencies are struggling to raise the 720 million U. S. dollars needed for temporary shelters for Gaza's 100,000 internally displaced people and the World Food Programme's food assistance campaign targeting 95,000 Palestinians remains at risk of suspension.

Against that backdrop, the secretary-general touched upon a situation of simmering tensions in the West Bank amid continuing clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians and the destruction of Palestinian-owned structures.

Such realities feed the frustration and tension in a vicious cycle that undermines the path to peace, he said. Endite