UN chief urges Israelis to freeze settlement building (Roundup)

Mar 20, 2010, 21:18 GMT

Jerusalem/Ramallah - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the Israeli president Saturday to freeze all settlement activity and said that he was confident the Gaza blockade could be lifted.

Defending the two-state solution as 'the only way for Israelis and Palestinians to achieve their rights and aspirations,' Ban called on both sides 'to refrain from actions that undermine the trust or the outcome of the talks.'

Actions that would build trust included a freeze of the settlements, Ban told Israeli President Shimon Peres at a press conference in Jerusalem.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon insisted however that Israeli building projects in East Jerusalem would continue. A freeze in East Jerusalem 'has not happened in the past 42 years,' Ayalon said.

Ban urged Israelis and Palestinians to start indirect talks as soon as possible.

Peres agreed, saying 'we have to agree a target day for peace as soon as possible.'

The UN Chief toured the West Bank earlier Saturday with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

'All settlement activity is illegal anywhere in occupied territory, and this must stop,' Ban said speaking from the hills above the city of Ramallah, in full view of a separation barrier, an Israeli prison camp and the Jewish settlement of Givat Ze'ev - home to nearly 11,000 Israelis.

Ban said he saw with his own eyes the difficulties facing the Palestinians as a result of the Israeli settlements and land confiscation, stressing that 'it is difficult to live under these conditions.'

'I urge Israel to do more to support them (the Palestinians),' Ban said to Peres in Jerusalem, calling on the Israeli government to improve Palestinian life, particularly in the Gaza Strip.

'I'm confident that the Gaza blockade can be lifted,' Ban said urging 'extremist' Palestinians to halt the firing of rockets into Israel.

Ban is scheduled to travel to Gaza this Sunday for the second time since the January 2009 Israeli offensive on the territory in response to militant rocket fire.

He would visit the most affected areas where houses, schools and hospitals have not yet been rebuilt after the military offensive because of the Israeli blockade.

In Ramallah the UN Chief expressed the support of the Middle East Quartet, made up of the US, Russia, the European Union and the UN for the plan for 'a viable, independent Palestinian state.'

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat welcomed the statement issued on Friday by the Middle East Quartet of the US, Russia, the European Union and the UN. However, he insisted on international guarantees aimed at stopping Israelis from building any more settlements.

'We demand that the Quartet turn its statements into systems which will force Israel to implement its commitments on the ground, particularly in terms of halting construction in the settlements, in all the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem,' Erekat said.

Palestinians regard East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state though it has been under Israeli control since 1967.

Those plans have caused a rift between Israel and Washington and the postponement of a planned visit by US special representative George Mitchell. Mitchell was now expected to arrive in the region to kick-start so-called 'proximity talks' between the sides on Sunday.