UN chief concerned over Israeli settlements

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned of "increasingly dangerous" tensions between Israel and the Palestinians which could threaten peace talks. "I am alarmed by the increasingly dangerous situation on the ground. There has been an escalation of violence and incitement," Ban said. He highlighted Israel's settlement surge in the occupied territories as "a cause for very grave concern" in a message for the international day of solidarity with the Palestinian people. "Announcements of thousands of new housing units cannot be reconciled with the goal of a two-state solution and risk the collapse of negotiations," he said, calling for an end to all new settlements in the West Bank and east occupied Jerusalem. Source: QNA