UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for the resumption of long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. According to a statement of the UN, received by Prasar Bharti in Dubai today, the UN secretary General during a meeting of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People warned that Israel’s settlement construction on occupied Palestinian territory, its annexation of East Jerusalem and its blockade of Gaza are hindering Middle East peace efforts. The secretary General said that settlement construction violates international law and contravenes the Road Map, under which Israel is obliged to freeze all settlement activity, including the so-called natural growth.<br/><br/>He added that tensions have risen in East Jerusalem while people in Gaza and southern Israel continue to suffer from violence. He called on Israel and the relevant Palestinian authorities to conduct credible domestic investigations of Gaza war and repeated his call to end Gaza blockade and a complete end to violence and the targeting of Israeli civilians.