By NewsGram Staff Writer

Addressing the Security Council over the situation in Middle East, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki moon on Tuesday said that the resolution of Israeli-Palestinian conflict issue lies in the peace talks.

"For both sides in Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one choice stands above all: Whether to choose peace or death," Ban Ki moon said in New York.

Too many lives have been lost, too many families have been destroyed, too many livelihoods have been shattered, and too much distrust has been sown, added Ban Ki moon.

Expressing his concern over the conflict, the Secretary-General said, "Over the years, we have seen determined efforts to achieve a comprehensive, negotiated peace based on a two-state solution. Instead of peace, however, there have been decades of missed opportunities and failures that have come at an enormous human cost. The prospect of a two-state solution continues to recede, with potentially explosive consequences,"

Ban Ki moon urged the new Israeli government to reaffirm Israel's commitment to the two-state solution and take credible steps to foster an environment conducive to a return to meaningful negotiations.

"Seven months since my last visit to Gaza, I continue to be concerned by the fragile security situation, the lack of progress on intra-Palestinian reconciliation and the pace of reconstruction, " the Secretary-General said, and added, " The impact of the conflict and of extreme poverty on Palestinians in Gaza has been severe. I urge the international community to support a second humanitarian payment to Palestinian civil servants in Gaza as an integral part of the necessary and agreed crucial reforms."

The international community must do more to promote a return to negotiations that will end nearly half a century of occupation and allow two states, Israel and Palestine, to live side-by-side in security and peace, he said.