Gaza, March 21 (IANS/RIA Novosti) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived Sunday in the Gaza Strip as part of his Middle East tour aimed at reviving the stalled peace process in the region.
Ban is making his second visit to the Palestinian enclave of 1.5 million, which has been the subject of an almost continuous Israeli blockade since radical Islamic group Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007.

The UN chief’s regional tour follows the Moscow meeting of the Middle East quartet of international mediators comprising the UN, the US, the European Union and Russia who called on Israel to freeze all settlement activities and pledged to make efforts to resume Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

During his visit to the West Bank Saturday, Ban termed the Israeli settlement plans in east Jerusalem as “illegal” and said he would visit Gaza to show his support for Palestinians.

“We are strongly supporting your efforts to establish an independent and viable Palestinian state,” Ban said after meeting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

“The world has condemned Israel’s settlement plans in east Jerusalem,” he said. “Let us be clear. All settlement activity is illegal anywhere in occupied territory and must be stopped.”

Last week, Israel approved the building of 1,600 new homes in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as their future capital, hindering a fresh US proposal to revive the peace talks between the two sides.

–IANS/RIA Novosti

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