The continued fighting between Israel and Palestinian
militants has become the "biggest challenge" to the political talks
aimed at resolving the conflict, the United Nations said Tuesday.
"Recent developments in the occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel
underscores that the gap between the political tracks and the situation on the
ground remain large, posing considerable obstacles in the path that lies
ahead," UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs B Lynn Pascoe said,
according to dpa.
Fighting in the past four weeks killed 15 Palestinian militants in the Gaza
Strip and one in the West Bank, while a total of 122 civilians were injured. In
the same period one Israeli was killed in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem on
October 23.
More than 123 rockets and 118 mortars were fired by Palestinian militants into
Israel, Pascoe said at a meeting of the UN Security Council to review the
situation in that region of the Middle East.
Pascoe said Israel in November severely restricted access of humanitarian
workers and commercial and relief goods into Gaza, causing the suspension of
the work by the UN refugee agency and World Food programme for Palestinians.
He renewed a call by the UN for tangible improvements in living conditions and
security of civilians "to give them faith in the political process."
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