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UN Chief In Gaza Strip To Express Solidarity With Palestinians

   VOA News 21 March 2010

Photo: AP

   UN  Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, centre, visits a destroyed house in
   Jebaliya,  northern Gaza Strip, Sunday, March 21, 2010. U.N. chief Ban
   Ki-moon has entered the blockaded Gaza Strip, where 1.5 million people
   have been under lockdown by Israel and Egypt for nearly three years.

   U.N.  Secretary-General  Ban  Ki-moon has arrived in the Gaza Strip on
   the  second  day  of  a  visit  to the Middle East, where he is urging
   Israelis  and Palestinians to stop finding ways to undermine the peace
   process.
   Mr.  Ban  was met by a small group of Palestinians waving flags Sunday
   as  he  passed  through  the  Erez crossing that links Israel with the
   coastal enclave.
   Mr.  Ban told reporters in the West Bank Saturday that he is traveling
   to Gaza to express solidarity with the Palestinians.
   This  is Mr. Ban's second visit to the Gaza Strip since the three-week
   Gaza  war  that started in late 2008.  Some 1,300 Palestinians and 13
   Israelis died in the conflict.
   Mr.  Ban also met with top Palestinian and Israeli leaders Saturday at
   the start of his two-day visit to the region.
   The  U.N. chief met first with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad
   on  a  hilltop  outside  Ramallah where they viewed a sprawling Jewish
   settlement  with an Israeli barrier.  Afterward, Mr. Ban said Israeli
   settlements in occupied territories are illegal, and that any plans to
   expand them must stop.
   Later  Saturday,  Mr.  Ban met with Israeli President Shimon Peres and
   called  on  Palestinian  militants in Gaza to stop firing rockets into
   Israel.   But  he  also  said Israel's blockade of Gaza is empowering
   extremists.
   The  U.N.  chief said he hopes to see a peace agreement between Israel
   and the Palestinians within 24 months.
   Mr.  Ban  said  the agreement should bring an end to occupation in the
   Palestinian  territories  and include Jerusalem as the capital of both
   Israeli and Palestinian states.
   During  a  joint  news conference, Israeli President Shimon Peres said
   the  Israeli  government  is  ready  to  start  negotiations  with the
   Palestinians  right  away.   He  also  said Israel was committed to a
   two-state solution.
   Israel  has  been  criticized internationally in recent days for a new
   plan to build 1,600 settler homes in East Jerusalem.
   U.S.  envoy  to the Middle East, George Mitchell, is due in the region
   soon to begin indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

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