UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon Monday called for more efforts to push Middle East peace process back on track.
Ban told a monthly press conference at the UN headquarters in New York that the bsituation in Gaza, particularly the humanitarian crisis suffered by the Palestinian people is a great concern for him almost one year after the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.
"I have been working very hard with Israeli leadership ... It is regrettable that we have not
made much progress," Ban told reporters.
Calling the peace process in Middle East almost stalled, Ban urged the international
community particularly the Quartet -- The United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States -- to do more in making the peace process on track.
He said he also made this clear in a Quartet teleconference last month.
"This should be one of my top priorities," Ban said, adding he will continue to press the
Israeli government to agree on the humanitarian protect to hospitals, schools as well as the
sanitation facilities badly needed by the civilians in Gaza.
Ban also said he has been "pushing (the Israeli government) very hard" for the compensation of 11 million U.S. dollars for the UN premises destroyed in the three-week Gaza military offensive.
The Israel's offensive to the Hamas-controled strip, from Dec. 27 last year to Jan. 18,
killed more than 1,450 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Israel lost 10 soldiers and three civilians.