Ban urges Israel and Palestinians to save peace hopes

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned on Tuesday that hopes for a two-state peace settlement between Israel and a future Palestine are fading fast.
Marking the “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People,” Ban warned that settlement building and home demolitions undermine Israeli democracy.
But he also criticized the Palestinians’ “paralyzing lack of unity” and warned that their infighting has damaged their own democracy and the rule of law.
And he told both sides that unless they act to revive hopes for peace, “they risk entrenching a one-state reality.”
Ban hailed a July report by the Middle East Quartet — the United Nations, European Union, Russia and the United States — as a blueprint for revived talks.
Israel ignored the report and has accelerated its program of building Jewish settlements on occupied land, while demolishing dozens of Palestinian homes.