UNITED NATIONS. Jan 22: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has called for massive international efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. Mr Ban has just returned from Gaza after seeing first-hand the suffering and destruction wrought by Israel’s three-week military offensive, including the still-smouldering ruins of a shelled United Nations compound.

“The violence, destruction and suffering before us have been a mark of collective political failure,” Mr. Ban told a meeting of the Security Council, in a statement read out on his behalf by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe.

“We must do more,” he stated. “Nothing short of a massive international effort is now required to support, and insist on, a resolution of this conflict.” Although present at the meeting, Mr Ban was unable to deliver the briefing, having lost his voice at the end of a whirlwind diplomatic mission that also took him to Cairo, Amman, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Ankara, Beirut, Damascus and Sharm el-Sheikh.

“A true end to violence, and lasting security for both Palestinians and Israelis, will only come through a just and comprehensive settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict,” the secretary general said, adding that central to this effort was implementation of Security Council resolutions and the framework provided by the Arab peace initiative.

“We do not need new plans and processes. We have the tools we need. We need only political will and action,” he stated.