UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Wednesday voiced regret over Israel's inclusion of two religious sites in occupied Palestinian territory to its heritage list.

The secretary-general expressed the concerns in a meeting with visiting Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak at UN Headquarters, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters.

Ban and Barak discussed the Israeli-Palestinian peace process as well as the situation in the region, Nesirky said.

"They discussed on-going efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian negotiations," he said.

"In this context, the secretary-general regretted certain recent developments on the ground including new demolition orders in east Jerusalem and inclusion of holy sites in the Occupied West Bank on an Israeli heritage list."

The UN chief also expressed his concern with the situation in Gaza and his "disappointment that Israel has not accepted the UN's proposal to kick start a civilian recovery."

Ban urged Israel to "take positive steps on the entry of reconstruction materials into Gaza."

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2010)