UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has held talks with senior Israeli and American officials on the West Asia peace process, highlighting the need to overcome hurdles to resume Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. <br/> <br/>According to a statement of the UN, received by Prasar Bharti in Dubai today, the secretary General during a telephone call with Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak conferred on the situation in Gaza, following last year’s military campaign and discussed the urgent need to surmount obstacles to restart Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. During talks Secretary-General pressed for further imports of needed material for reconstruction in Gaza <br/> <br/>That topic of peace talks also topped the talks between Mr. Ban and United States Envoy George Mitchell during their meeting on Wednesday, which also focused on the current state of the Middle East peace process and the role of the diplomatic Middle East Quartet, comprising the United Nations, the European Union, the US and Russia. <br/>