UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Monday called on Israelis and Hamas to "stop the killing and the destruction now" just because "too many people have died."
The secretary-general made the appeals at his first press conference of the year here before he kicks off his Middle East tour on Tuesday in a bid to help enforce the resolution of the UN Security Council, which calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire in Gaza.
The Gaza conflict, which moves into its 17th day Monday, left more than 900 Palestinians killed and about 4,000 others injured.
"My message is simple, direct and to the point -- the fighting must stop," he said. "Both sides must stop the fighting now."
"Too many people have died, and there has been too much Palestinian suffering," he said. "Too many people, Israelis and Palestinians, are left in daily fear" of the loss of their lives because of the ongoing fighting.
"It is time to stop the killing and the destruction," he said, noting the destruction of homes, schools, public facilities and other infrastructures since the Dec. 27 beginning of the Israeli military offensives against Gaza.
On his scheduled visit to the Middle East, he said that the tour will take him to Egypt, Israel, the West Bank, Turkey, Syria and Lebanon in a bid to "step up the pace our joint diplomatic efforts."
"We have a Security Council resolution demanding an immediate and enduring ceasefire. This resolution must be observed," he said, referring to the resolution, which was adopted last Thursday and went unheeded by both Israelis and Hamas.
Israel said continued barrages of rocket fire from its adversaries made the UN resolution "unworkable," while Hamas claimed the resolution "does not suit us because it is not in the best interest of the Palestinian people," reports said.
"I expect the parties to meet in Cairo" to enter into peace talks, mediated by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to stop Hamas from the firing of rockets into southern Israel and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, he said.
The UN chief made the statement as the United Nations announced its plan to resume humanitarian relief operations in Gaza, halted by the Israeli attacks on the UN-flagged convoy with humanitarian relief goods to be delivered to the Gaza residents in need.
Meanwhile, Ban also voiced his hope that Americans can impose pressure on Israelis for an early end to the fighting because "Americans can influence Israelis," he said.
During his phone conversation with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama immediately after his elections victory, "I told him that the next U.S. administration should take over the Middle East as atop priority," Ban said, adding that other top priorities include financial crisis, climate change and food crisis.
Source:Xinhua
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