UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern over the settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem at a meeting with Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak. According to a UN statement received by Prasar Bharti in Dubai today, Mr. Ban emphasized the need to break the current diplomatic stalemate and the importance of resuming talks between Israel and the Palestinian leadership. The Secretary-General took a positive note of the decision by the Government of Israel to allow exports from Gaza, which he sees as essential to revive Gaza’s economy. He also urged Mr. Barak to facilitate additional UN reconstruction work in Gaza, and touched on the issue of the freedom of movement for the UN between Jerusalem and the West Bank. The UN Chief also raised the issue of freedom of movement for the world body. Meanwhile Israeli and Palestinian leaders are due to meet US secretary of State Hillary Clinton today in connection with the Middle East peace talks. Yesterday, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has demanded a halt to Jewish settlement building before talks with Israel. The issue has attracted urgency after Washington admitted that its efforts to persuade Israel to freeze settlements in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem failed.